Announcing My Forthcoming Book: Culture of Cruelty (Due Fall, 2013)
Announcing my forthcoming book from City Lights.
Working on it now, and should have it out sometime in Fall…
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Tim Wise is one of the country’s most prolific public intellectuals. His critically acclaimed books, high-profile media interviews and year-round speaking schedule have established him as a leading voice for racial equity. In Culture of Cruelty, Wise aims his incisive commentary at a new Goliath: class disparity and a growing culture of cruelty that demonizes those in need.
As Wise demonstrates, there was a time when the hardship of fellow Americans stirred feelings of sympathy and prompted support for public policies to alleviate private pain. But today, mainstream discourse increasingly blames low-income folks for their own situation, and the notion of an intractable “culture of poverty†has pushed our country in an especially ugly direction. Wise shows how the economic elite have commandeered the discussion about class, moving the nation from compassion to scorn for the marginalized. With clarity and precision, Wise not only documents growing contempt for the nation’s have-nots, but also explores the reasons for it. In doing so, he convincingly demonstrates how classism, racism and sexism are inextricably linked, and how popular culture has also inadvertently contributed to a deepening indifference towards the plight of the poor. Finally, Wise shows that far from a culture of poverty, it is the culture of affluence and power that deserves the blame for America’s economic and social crises.
