Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

Strangers in Their Own Land is one of the better recent books explaining why large segments of working-class America have become politically conservative, even to the point of voting against government programs that benefit them. Arlie Russell Hochschild did real work for this one, spending five years in Louisiana (2011-15, so pre-Trump) — and it shows in the form of deep and sympathetic insights into its citizens' views of government corruption, the emotional appeals of conservative arguments, and the virtues they feel are threatened by a more activist government. Recommended.