Caste : : the Origins of our Discontents

Locations
Call Number: 305.512 Wi, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / General / Wilkerson, Isabel, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Social Science / Socioeconomics / Wilkerson, Isabel
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

"Oprah's book club, 2020"--Book jacket.
The man in the crowd -- Part one: Toxins in the permafrost and heat rising all around. Chapter one: The afterlife of pathogens -- The Vitals of History -- Chapter two: An old house and an infrared light -- Chapter three: An American untouchable -- An Invisible Program -- Part two: The arbitrary construction of human divisions. Chapter four: A long-running play and emergence of caste in America -- Chapter five: "The Container We Have Built for You" -- Chapter six: The measure of humanity -- Chapter seven: Through the fog of Delhi to the parallels in India and America -- Chapter eight: The Nazis and the acceleration of caste -- Chapter nine: The Evil of Silence -- Part three: The eight pillars of caste. The foundations of caste: The Origins of Our Discontents -- Pillar number one: Divine will and the laws of nature -- Pillar number two: Heritability -- Pillar number three: Endogamy and the control of marriage and mating -- Pillar number four: Purity versus pollution -- Pillar number five: Occupational hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill -- Pillar number six: Dehumanization and stigma -- Pillar number seven: Terror as enforcement, cruelty as a means of control -- Pillar number eight: Inherent superiority versus inherent inferiority -- Part four: The tentacles of caste. Brown eyes versus blue eyes -- Chapter ten: Central miscasting -- Chapter eleven: Dominant group status threat and the precarity of the highest rung -- Chapter twelve: A scapegoat to beat the sins of the world -- Chapter thirteen: The insecure Alpha and the purpose of an underdog -- Chapter fourteen: The intrusion of caste in everyday life -- Chapter fifteen: The urgent necessity of a bottom rung -- Chapter sixteen: Last place anxiety: Packed in a flooding basement -- Chapter seventeen: On the early front lines of caste -- Chapter eighteen: Satchel Paige and the illogic of caste -- Part five: The consequences of caste. Chapter nineteen: The Euphoria of Hate -- Chapter twenty: The inevitable narcissism of caste -- Chapter twenty-one: The German girl with the dark, wavy hair -- Chapter twenty-two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the survival of the subordinate caste -- Chapter twenty-three: Shock troops on the borders of hierarchy -- Chapter twenty-four: Cortisol, telomeres and the lethality of caste -- Part six: Backlash, Chapter twenty-five: A change in the script -- Chapter twenty-six: Turning point and the resurgence of caste -- Chapter twenty-seven: The symbols of caste -- Chapter twenty-eight: Democracy on the ballot -- Chapter twenty-nine: The price we pay for a caste system -- Part seven: Awakening. Chapter thirty: Shedding the sacred thread -- The Radicalization of the Dominant Caste -- Chapter thirty-one: The heart is the last frontier -- Epilogue: A world without caste.
""As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power--which groups have it and which do not. In this book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people's lives and behavior and the nation's fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people--including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball's Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others--she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity"-- Provided by the publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

An unpopular opinion about this book (which is about an amazing concept) submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 16, 2021, 8:22pm This is no _Warmth of Other Suns _(Wilkerson’s first book). That was brilliant in idea and execution. _Caste_ is solid in the first and lacking in the second.

The idea behind _Caste_ is profound. Wilkerson proposes that caste, the ranking and positions of people in society, which the powerful people *conflate* with race in the US, is more important and defining than race itself. She focuses on caste here in the United States, with White at the top and Black at the bottom, and other races falling in between based in part on how closely they align with Whiteness. One of her fascinating proofs that caste is more important than race itself in the US is that the definition of White has changed over time. She uses Hinduism and Nazi Germany as two other enlightening examples of caste in action. Her idea, examples, and this new-to-most-of-us framework lend a great deal of insight to both history and current events.

Wilkerson’s execution in this book was lacking. I was, quite frankly, constantly having to force myself to pick it up. The introduction section was 96 pages, and I have no idea why. She then laid out “The Eight Pillars of Caste,” presumably the eight factors that must exist for a social system to be a caste system. However, each of the eight chapters that follows has ONLY two of the three caste systems used as examples. So, for example, if Divine Will and the Laws of Nature is indeed the first and most foundational pillar of a caste system, why are only the US and Hinduism cited? If in the whole world she is only going to use three examples of caste systems, and then tell us that there are eight necessary pillars, don’t we need to hear how each of the three exemplify that pillar?

Some material is simply extraneous. I learned nothing relevant about caste from knowing about her dogs. Some material was repetitious. We heard twice about a conference she attended on caste, and specifically that she could tell what (Hindu) caste people were by observing them. We read at least three times that the lowest caste couldn’t let their shadows touch the highest caste. Don’t waste my time by telling me repeatedly. Yet overall, until the last hundred pages, that’s almost *all* we learned about the working of the Hindu caste system. My impression is that Wilkerson learned about the Hindu caste system and it informed her work, but then she failed to pass it on to us as readers.

Overall, I simply have mixed feelings about this book. The idea is critically important. The execution needed improvement. I think the editor needed to do a much better job tightening the overall flow, and Wilkerson needed (a) more about the Hindu caste system if she was going to use it as a reference point and (b) more solid/ balanced examples within her pillars. Her examples within the US across history were on target, but if Robin DiAngelo and Ijeoma Oluo could take on White fragility and talking about race in 150 and 250 pages respectively, Wilkerson could have introduced us to the core of caste in something powerful that was much tighter than 400 pages. More is not always better. Length worked in _The Warmth of Other Suns_, but not so much here.

New Way to think about things submitted by JennJenn on June 22, 2021, 8:20am This books offered some interesting comparisons that give insight into why things often work or don't work as they do in the US. Some of the details were appalling and saddening to have pointed out.

Excellent! submitted by TeacherN on June 28, 2021, 2:43pm This book was fascinating and enlightening. I'm very glad to have read it!

A meaningful interweaving of histories submitted by avandeusen on July 17, 2021, 10:52am This book feels a bit like an incredibly effective dissertation.

Highly recommend! submitted by kath on July 17, 2021, 5:25pm Caste is one of the best books I read this year. It will or should change how one sees US policy. I learned so much about our caste system. Most notable was that Hitler used US treatment of African Americans as a model of how to treat and eliminate European Jews. If the US - the shining city on the hill - could get away with such vile behavior so could Germany.
Wilkerson's work is so important. It should be required reading

Suggested read submitted by SolaireFQ on July 21, 2021, 10:33am Caste provides a thorough comparison of the caste systems in the US, Nazi era Germany, and India. It's very informative and provides much needed historical examination of how our society was and is structured.

I'm glad I read this submitted by saleder on July 28, 2021, 2:04pm The book is well written, engaging and tackles a difficult subject from a new perspective: comparing racism in the United States of the caste system in India, and a similar caste/racist system in Nazi Germany. It is chilling to read that Nazi operatives came to the US to study how the US south treated black people under Jim Crow, and found some of the methods used were too severe, even for them. I recommend reading this book.

urs pour nos enfants et petits-enfants. Imaginez leur vie, en danger, ou même la vôtre. S'ils veulent vivre submitted by angie. on July 30, 2021, 3:29pm urs pour nos enfants et petits-enfants. Imaginez leur vie, en danger, ou même la vôtre. S'ils veulent vivreurs pour nos enfants et petits-enfants. Imaginez leur vie, en danger, ou même la vôtre. S'ils veulent vivreurs pour nos enfants et petits-enfants. Imaginez leur vie, en danger, ou même la vôtre. S'ils veulent vivre

Recommend submitted by jmac2579 on June 18, 2022, 10:48am I highly recommend this book. Isbael Wilkerson is a beautiful writer tackling a difficult but important subject. Looking at racism from a lens of a caste system is a new idea but it allows the reader to look at racism from a different perspective.

Outstanding! submitted by Xris on June 18, 2023, 5:24pm Outstanding book that should be read by everyone. And I should buy a copy. Important info about caste in India, Nazi Germany, and the US. Hopefully we can break it down in the states soon.