Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Author: Isabel Wilkerson

Genre: Nonfiction, Social Science

Publication Date: 2020

Introduction

Published in 2020, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an investigation of rigid social hierarchies across times and cultures. Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson argues that present-day racial inequality in the United States is just one manifestation of a phenomenon that can be found worldwide. Through extensive research, Wilkerson connects the race-based caste system that persists in America to the ancient caste hierarchy of India and the rapid formation of ethno-religious castes in Nazi Germany. She argues that caste systems harm not only subordinate groups but all members of society—including those who might consider themselves at the top of the hierarchy.