Crossing the Empathy Wall in Divided Times

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September 23, 2020

a project of ServiceSpace

An empathy wall is an obstacle to deep understanding of another person, one that can make us feel indifferent or even hostile to those who hold different beliefs or whose childhood is rooted in different circumstances

- Arlie Hochschild -

Crossing the Empathy Wall in Divided Times

"Everyone has a deep story," says Arlie Hochschild. "Our job is to respect and try to understand these stories." Hochschild is one of the most distinguished sociologists of our time. Considered the founder of the "sociology of emotion," she examines some of the most urgent challenges our societies face: work-family balance, shifting gender roles, alienation, globalization, and the ever-widening political divide. Throughout these issues, she studies how we feel about things, what we think we should feel, and why. Why do people choose what they choose? What are the invisible forces behind our actions? What are the emotional costs, if any? And most recently, why does it seem like people vote against their own interests? What follows is an excerpt from her book, "Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right." { read more }