Joan C. Williams presents compelling examples of how progressives can connect with blue-collar workers, rather than alienating them with insults and disparagement. Reading this helped me better understand my bemusement about liberal and progressive politics, and the way politicians and activists speak and act.

If you are like me, railing for decades at the failings of the “Left” (and the party in the US that has failed it), you might have turned to whatever literature is out there to try to understand why they fail, and more to the point, if there is any way back, how. This book posits a lot of the "whys", and proposes some possible courses of action. BLUF*: I am not convinced these can overcome the big obstacles, the entrenched Ailes network fanbase, the social media blitz lock on such a big percentage of the US electorate.

BLUF #2 "The Left needs to stop falling into the rhetorical traps set by the Far Right." This is the biggest understatement of this book. Buried in a Key Takeaway of Chapter 20. (BTW, each chapter has 3-4 of those key takeaways, but they won't really help the TLDR sector.)

While I try to keep up with what is happening in Europe, what is happening in the US takes up a lot of my bandwidth so my observations are colored by that. Professor Williams did a huge amount of research - there are 676 ennumerated Notes but almost all of them have multiple many citations and sources. If you like data and statistics, you won't be disappointed reading this. It can be academic at times. And it is an ambitious project. "You don't need me to tell you what's wrong with the racist, anti-immigrant, anti-science politics of the Far Right. Instead, I want to explain how class blindness on the Left helps the Right."

So this is all about class division. And populism. And understanding what drives them. And reforming connections.
"In fact, far-right populism has three elements: anger against elites, an insistence on giving power back to the 'common people,' and defining that in-group ('common people') in reference to one or more undeserving out-groups who supposedly have been favored by elites."
{Key there is out-groups perceived as - true or not - favorites of elites.}

As to the populist movement: "If democracy hasn't worked for you and your kind for over forty years, you might think it's time to try something different." Like dictatorship?
And connections: "Because here's the brutal fact: if we don't tap into people's cherished identities - including class-based masculinities-we know who will."

Not everything cues the skeptic in me. "No one can get everything they want not because the other side is evil but, because the other side is different. That's the path past populism." I like that, and...
"The key for progressives is to express respect for small businesses and hard work and to stress government's important role in ensuring that hard work leads to a stable, middle-class life."
And...
"We're going to talk about what people will listen to," [Ted Kennedy] said once. "You have to get them listening by talking about what they're interested in, before you can start trying to persuade them about other matters."

But...
"The race-class narrative reclaims anti-elitism for the Left, contesting the Far Right's harnessing of anti-elitism into anger against political and cultural elites, and redirecting that anger against the Merchant Right. That in itself is a huge contribution."
Is it enough?

"Liberals are less than half as likely as conservatives to connect their arguments with their audiences' values."
I get this, but when they switch up the message, won't the "non-elites" then cry that they're pandering? The wrong wing is very organized and skilled at word twists. They'll play that scenario to death.

On bridging the divide:
"One strategy [connecting with non-college voters] is to point out how Republicans use culture wars to distract attention from economic inequality.
[...]
A second strategy is to adopt blue-collar talk traditions.
[...]
The Far Right has put a lot of time and effort into connecting with noncollege grads. The rest of us need to learn how."

Okay, but how do you change the minds of those voting far not-left to voting not not-left? Especially when faced with this, the epigram for Chapter 6 quotes Reece Peck :"[The Far Right] foregrounds real class cultural inequalities in order to obscure real economic ones." And
"Conservatives have deftly manipulated Missing Middle voters' worship of perseverance and hard work into the politics of resentment. From the 1970s into the 1990s, the chief trope was the racist story of lazy, entitled people of color collecting welfare. The new millennium substituted another villain: lazy, entitled government workers, with their fat pensions and cushy desk jobs."

The ideas put forward here seem like ideals to me. I'm too pessimistic - 40 years of disillusion - to see them working. And my observation of the US 2024 election, Harris and Walz said most of the right things according to what this book tells us needs to be said to sway the “non-elites”. But that didn’t work and won't work until the non-non-elites figure out a way to diminish the not-left wing message. (Yeah, I don't like "Left/Right", "liberal/conservative" labels.)

*BLUF - Bottom Line Up Front (military term... in case the boss is impatient, doesn't have much time, doesn't care about the background)

Way too many notes of my own. Here are a selected few:

One chapter title is "Reframe the Immigration Debate to Tap Working-Class Values". Oh boy. It's not a "debate" anymore.

"Immigration fits beautifully into the politics of distraction."

"Activists' Language Can Feel Unpersuasive at Best and Insulting at Worst"
{ Nailed it.}

"After the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution mandated states to recognize gay marriage, the Right did what the Left too rarely does. 'We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about. And we threw everything at the wall,' said Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, a conservative advocacy group. 'What has stuck is the issue of trans identity, particularly among young people.'"
{Damning on both the "too rarely does" and the anti-something targeted attacks by the "conservatives."}

"The key is to connect immigrants with working-class values, as did an lowa billboard that depicted an extended Latino family of grandparents, parents, and four children, including a baby, at a family occasion (perhaps the baby's baptism), with the caption, 'Welcome the Immigrant You Once Were.' 'The subtext was clear: today's immigrants are no different from your family members who traveled by train and wagon to build a life in the prairie a hundred years ago. Hardworking, religious, and devoted to family, they share your values.' [Jonathon] Haidt again."
{Pessimist in me ... again... the not-Left will dismiss that message thanks to the overpowering message of who they actually follow.}

"Noncollege grads also are more conservative on LGBTQ rights. A 2022 poll found that nearly half of Americans with high school or less but only about a quarter of those with grad school opposed gay marriage. As someone who has worked for gender equality my entire life, I don't intend to abandon that quest.
But to pursue it effectively, you need to understand how deeply class inflected the family-values debate is. If liberals are going to bridge the diploma divide, we need to take that as a starting point."
{"Conservative"? I really dislike that word as collective adjective when opposing human rights is considered "conservative".}.

"'What you can earn depends on what you can learn,' said Bill Clinton more than thirty times during his presidency. 'If you don't have a good education,' said Obama during his presidency, 'then it's going to be hard for you to find a job that pays a living wage.' In a shocking expression of liberals' inclination to consign anyone who did not attend college to dead-end, low-paid jobs."
{I'm going to need context for Clinton because there are many many blue-collar jobs that require the employee to "learn" how to do the job well. And the Obama quote does not exclude blue collar jobs...just "living wage" jobs.}

"To elites, work offers honor. Non-elites prefer to hang out with people who understand that they're not just the toilet guy. My brother-in-law still hangs out in the same bar, with the same friends he went to high school with. When we happened into it one evening, we recognized a depth and density of social bonds that was lacking in our lives."
{Reductive. It doesn't have to be that way... you can have friends and not have the need to spend all your time with them. That doesn't mean anything is lacking.}

"The path forward is to link the economic woes of the Missing Middle with those of younger college-educated voters struggling to buy houses, afford childcare, and find good, stable jobs."
{I don't think linking will work. But. the Dems do need to appeal to the jobs part.}

"These revolts [rural and Rust Belt counties voting for 45] highlight that neoliberalism fueled not just inequality between individuals but also inequality between regions."
{Regional identity is important to many people.}
"This happened in the UK and US because both have winner-take-all legislative districts defined by geography, which gives rural areas disproportionate power-unlike in democracies where winners are chosen proportionally."
{And this will not change because it does not benefit the not-left wing. They are in fact making it worse.}

"Not surprisingly, Haney López's research found that formulations like 'wealthy special interests who rig the rules' and 'the greedy few' polled better than phrases like 'the wealthy few.'
{"Polled better"... but polls were wrong. Again.}

"'If you get your jollies or you get your voters excited by bullying gay and trans kids, you know, it's time for a new line of work,' said John Fetterman in a campaign stop: notice how he flips the 'leftists aren't doing right by kids' into 'right-wing bullies are cruel to kids.'"
{That worked once. The not-Left is thriving on cruelty now.}

"Some of the ways Obama chose would not be my ways: defending coal and what sounded like a sweeping defense of 'Second Amendment rights.' But he understood that part of American politics was working hard to connect to decent people living in a parallel universe."
{That's a difference between "us and them": I didn't support - or excuse, ignore - all of what Obama, Clinton, did. But the non-elites sure do dismiss and ignore, if not embrace the bad character of 45/47.}

"Conservatives have deftly manipulated Missing Middle voters' worship of perseverance and hard work into the politics of resentment. From the 1970s into the 1990s, the chief trope was the racist story of lazy, entitled people of color collecting welfare. The new millennium substituted another villain: lazy, entitled government workers, with their fat pensions and cushy desk jobs."

OutClassed

Very interesting discussion of how the divisions of Americans is not just by income levels.Thisis not a light read, but is helped by a summary of the points at the end of each chapter. It is appears to be an excellent explaination of the divisions between rural, urban, and suburban. It would be a very good basis for a community wide discussion at a library or ?

This is a very interesting book with some good talking points that will leave you wanting to do some more research on the topic. It is written in a way that resembles an academic textbook, full of statistics that sometimes feel one-sided.
The title fits the book very well. The timing is also perfect with the growing political divide our country is experiencing. My biggest takeaway was the author's statement that voters don't trust the system. This makes sense to me. I believe that voters vote on what they want to see happen, feeling that it probably will not.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Joan C. Williams for the gifted advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley. All opinions of the book are my own and given voluntarily.

A lot of information, but well-organized and well-explained. Fascinating and very informative.

I appreciate the author's effort to put together all the information, specially in the times we are living in, very relevant book. In an America so divided politics wise, it is always good to be informed and well-educated on topics that affect all of us one way or another.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Picked this one because I am a huge fan of the author's earlier "Unbending Gender", which I have recommended many times. But, it's been a while since I read her earlier work and am now reminded of how data-driven her work is. On the one hand, I appreciate how she supports her work with data, but on the other hand, it makes the reading a bit heavy and academic. Unlike her earlier work, this one is not organized in a way that I found as compelling.

Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back

Pub date: May 20, 2025

This academic book explores the growing political divide in America—and how the Left has steadily lost working-class voters. Williams highlights that in 1996, 59% of non-college whites identified as Democrats; today, only about a quarter do. She argues that globalization gutted middle-class prospects, and that many lower-middle-class voters see themselves as “pre-rich,” not as workers—fueling votes that seem misaligned with their economic interests.
A key takeaway: MAGA appeals to those who feel both parties have failed to address the collapse of the American middle class. Economic opportunity is now highly concentrated in a few cities, unlike in past decades when places like Pittsburgh and North Carolina thrived.
Williams calls for a bold rural platform focused on better jobs, higher wages, and regional investment. To win back these voters, the Left must show respect—and fight inequality between regions, not just individuals.
It’s dense but thought-provoking and packed with data. Highly recommend for the right reader!
Thank you to the author Joan C. Williams, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an accessible advance digital copy of OUTCLASSED.

Honestly I was surprised to see the heavily negative reviews for this book when I finished because I very much liked it. I have already used information I have learned from this in conversations I've had about politics and why we are where we're at today. I already inherently agreed with Williams' thesis that Democrats need to get back to representing the people and not just academic elites, so I guess that could have biased me. This book is also severely information heavy - I enjoyed that, myself. I think this book was, honestly, written for people who are actually working in politics, rather than the average reader.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pre-Read notes

I read a lot about social issues, but not often about class. I am.looking forward to gaining some perspective of this issue from reading Outclassed. Initial impressions: I'm interested in what is being said, and it's just as political as I suppose it must be.

Final Review

"People can’t get or stay married because it takes so much effort to survive. My ex-fiancée said, “You’re never around.” But I was working to get a better life for us. No one has time for their kids. It’s the American Nightmare." p81

Review summary and recommendations

I think this book was an ambitious project for Joan C. Williams, and an important one. I took several issues with her execution of her concept, but I still think this one offers value to readers who are already fluent in the subject. She presents a great deal of data, like statistics, but she tending to sort of stack these facts down the page without much discussion of how they relate to each other, or her larger point.

I recommend this book to readers who are interested in human rights and class differences. For another great read on human rights, try Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, and for a great book on class, try Caste.

Reading Notes

Two things I loved:

1. "“The reason voters don’t vote based on economics is that they absolutely don’t believe that either Democrats or Republicans will ever deliver for them,” pollster David Mermin remarked to me in 2023." p19 This is the only explanation for this phenomena that I've heard that makes sense. Why do voters always vote against their interests? Because they don't trust the system itself.

2. I like the recaps at the end of each chapter, both in content and structure.


Three quibbles:

(This section isn't only for criticisms. It's also for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.)

1. Lots of stats and data in this one, which can either slow down the pace or de-center the author's thesis. In this case it's not always clear how the author is using the material she is quoting or paraphrasing. *edit This data is so fascinating, I really wish it was tied together and all the way through the book.

2. She sort of writes for an academic audience, which makes sense, but she's purportedly writing for a popular audience. And I don't think she's going to get them with the way she approaches the data. It's a little cold-blooded: "Political scientists find that people with higher levels of education tend to have more consistent policy views and that policy influences their votes more than those with lower levels of education. So if you want to send the message that you only care about the one-third of Americans with college degrees, definitely keep talking on and on about policy." p220

3. "These approaches all had one feature in common: they use psychology to [make it] unnecessary for liberals to take conservative ideas seriously because these ideas are caused by bad childhoods or ugly personality traits. I [have] suggested a very different approach : start by assuming that conservatives are just as sincere as liberals." p252 I assure Ms. Williams and anyone else who might be wondering that mentally disabled people are still very capable of sincerity about their personal politics. So if we are brushed aside in any way *because* of our mental health, that is some ableist 💩 [poo] right there.

Rating: 💰💰💰 /5 money bags
Recommend? yes, for the right reader
Finished: Apr 4 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
📰 nonfiction
📊 statistics and facts
🤝 books about human rights

Thank you to the author Joan C. Williams, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an accessible advance digital copy of OUTCLASSED. All views are mine.
---------------

Outclassed is a smart, timely read that unpacks the growing divide between college-educated and non-college-educated Americans—and how that rift fuels political polarization. Joan C. Williams offers a compelling case for how progressives can better connect across class lines without compromising values.

Through sharp insights and real-world examples, Williams explores how cultural misunderstandings and privilege shape political messaging—and how the far right exploits those gaps. It’s both a critique and a call to action, with practical ideas for building a stronger, more inclusive movement.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I just finished Outclassed: How The Left Lost The Working Class And How To Win Them Back, by Joan C. Williams.

This book will be released on May 20, 2025.

This book is filled with attempts at arguments on how the left could win back the working class. However, I did not find this author to be very powerful or persuasive in her arguments. The book also was not that interesting and it was often a chore to keep going on to the next chapter. Unfortunately, this one had the feel of a series of boring college lectures.

I give this book a C.

Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a C equates to 2 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

I finished reading this on January 14, 2025.