Easily the most engrossing book Ive read this year. In Political Tribes, Amy Chua diagnoses the cause of our current political discord: tribalism. But she is very insightful and this is a good book that will make a significant contribution to the debate over the state of America and our collective future. I imagine she'll get attacked from some on the left for her take on the misuse and distractions of of micro-aggressions and intersectionality, but I am with her. This is a timely and provocative book that should be read and discussed by all ideological and ethnic "tribes" in these troubled times. “Political Tribes is a beautifully written, eminently readable, and uniquely important challenge to conventional wisdom. Chua is not naive, however, and deftly shows the controversy and hypocrisy that often works hand in hand with this consciousness. She doesn’t portray herself in a flattering light there, but I also got to know her through a more humanizing portrayal in J.D. ; Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, 2011, etc.) She constructs a strong case for how the poorest Americans (especially the white working class, but she also talks about the poorest African Americans and Latinxs) have been systematically cut out and the various means through which they distinguish themselves. America has made this mistake over and over again.”, “Today, no group in America feels comfortably dominant. Who says old dogs can't learn new tricks? One of the most powerful forms of group identity—and the focal point of political tribalism and violence all over the world today—is ethnicity.”, “It's not enough that we view one another as fellow human beings; we need to view on another as fellow Americans. It is also an instinct to exclude.”, “America’s continued existence as a super-group is under tremendous strain today. Amy Chua was interviewed by the amazing Ezra Klein on his podcast: For millions of year humans have lived in small, tribal societies. To order a copy for £17 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 … France eliminated birthright citizenship in 1993; Ireland, in 2005; New Zealand, in 2006.”, “The Left believes that right-wing tribalism—bigotry, racism—is tearing the country apart. It is also an instinct to exclude.”, “America’s continued existence as a super-group is under tremendous strain today. Amy Chua has published a new book and it does not concern Tiger Moms. You should read it. Enter Amy Chua's book, which taps on a simpler, more anthropological, more primal way of looking at America's failures in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and its own populace via the Occupy movement and Trump's recent victory. This is kind of silly, I know, because most people will never read it and will live happy and productive lives anyway. - A quick and, Conceptually, there isn't really anything that could be considered new here, but it is a very timely reminder of the role of group identities, which Chua terms as "tribes" in the book. by Amy Chua | Jun 25, 2019. Shelves: netgalley, political-diplomacy-terrorism, psych-religion-self-help. But Amy Chua, in her extremely stimulating Political Tribes, suggests an additional factor: many Vietnamese thought they were fighting the country’s Chinese minority. We have been both exceptionally racist and exceptionally inclusive.”, “In a related context, Nigerian American novelist Teju Cole once tweeted, “The White Savior Industrial Complex is not about justice. Political Tribes was an interesting spiritual follow-up to Chua's "World on Fire," which focused on the destabilizing effects of market-dominant minorities in developing countries. I’m a Vietnam veteran, and I learned more about Vietnam’s competing groups (what the war was really about) from Political Tribes than I have known (or thought I knew) all of my adult life. We tend to view the world in terms of territorial nation-states engaged in great ideological battles - Capitalism versus Communism, Democracy versus Authoritarianism, the 'Free World' versus the 'Axis of Evil.' Prior to starting her teaching career, she was a corporate law associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. 5 stars! And for that we need to collectively find a national identity capacious enough to resonate with, and hold together as one people, Americans of all sorts - old and young, immigrant and native born, urban and rural, descendants of slaves as well as descendants of slave owners.”, “Against a backdrop of stark group inequality, the most successful extremist groups offer their members precisely what existing societal institutions do not: a tribe, a sense of belonging and purpose, an enemy to hate and kill, and a chance to reverse the group polarity, turning humiliation into superiority and triumph. Even monks and friars belong to orders. Namely, US foreign policy keeps failing because it fails to see the groups it deals with as "tribes." “But especially in light of the 2016 presidential election, we should also remember what a testament to American exceptionalism the elections of 2008 and 2012 were from a world-comparative point of view. 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