Skip to content

Shopping Local, Made Easy

Caste The Origins of Our Discontents

Caste The Origins of Our Discontents

Regular price $21.00
Sale price $21.00 Regular price
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NEW YORK TIMES READERS PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY - OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.--Dwight Garner, The New York Times

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions--now with a new Afterword by the author.

#1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Post, The New York Public Library, Fortune, Smithsonian Magazine, Marie Claire, Slate, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize - National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist - Winner of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award - Dayton Literary Prize Finalist - PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist - PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalist - Kirkus Prize Finalist

As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power--which groups have it and which do not.

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, Isabel 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. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.
  • Most items deliver free to anywhere in Vermont!
  • Keeping money local: Every purchase on Myti supports Vermont brands, retailers, and communities—keeping your dollars where they matter most.
  • We have paused shipping to states outside of Vermont, but hope to resume soon. Please sign up for our email list for updates!

What Makes us Myti?

Powered by Vermont

Every product you buy supports real Vermont businesses—keeping dollars, jobs, and creativity right here at home.

Fast and easy delivery

The joy of shopping Local,
delivered to your door!

We'll Make it Right

If something's not right, we'll make it right. Our local support team is here to help-with real answers, not auto replies.