Caste
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply…
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson is a book on the hidden caste system that has shaped America.
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.
Beautifully written, original, and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.
About this book
The page says Wilkerson explores, through deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. It links the caste systems of America, India and Nazi Germany and explores eight pillars underlying them.
Also by Isabel Wilkerson
We also carry The Warmth of Other Suns by the same author. Browse the books department or visit our bookstore in Brooklyn.
Frequently asked questions
What is Caste by Isabel Wilkerson about?
The page says it explores how America has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings, and links the caste systems of America, India and Nazi Germany. We ship books nationwide, and pickup at our Brooklyn store is free.
How many pillars of caste does the book discuss?
The page says Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines and stigma. More titles are in our books department, and our team can suggest what to read next.
