Adapted Honors Thesis Reading List

A look back at my readings from the past

Here is a list of texts that I put together for my undergraduate Honors thesis reading list (minus one well known fiction book that I don’t feel fits the purpose of my Substack!). When defending our theses, we had to also present a list of texts that in some way or another, we found to be important. My general theme was a collection of works that I felt enlightened me to the experiences of marginalized groups, furthered my passion for the advocation of human rights, deepened my knowledge of sociology, and aided my understanding of the world. I’ve mostly kept the content on what these texts are about, but I did leave some of my own commentary. Most of my thoughts that I kept are explaining why I found these to be relevant reads for my theme, as some of these works I would not recommend as highly as others. So, in a way, this is still a book (and one essay) review and analysis! I also added some additional comments at the end, that I just wrote here in the present, as I reflected on my past readings.

Texts:

• The Forest People — Colin Turnbull

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness — Michelle Alexander

• “Of Cannibals” — Michel de Montaigne

• The Communist Manifesto — Karl Marx

• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl — Harriet Jacobs

• Survival in Auschwitz (If This is a Man) — Primo Levy

• Ishi’s Brain: In Search of the Last “Wild” Indian — Orin Starn

• $2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America — H. Luke Shaefer and Kathryn Edin

• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City — Matthew Desmond

•American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate — Pete Simi and Robert Futrell

• Gangsters Without Borders: An Ethnography of a Salvadoran Street Gang — Thomas W. Ward

The Forest People — Colin Turnbull

Anthropologist Colin Turnbull lived among the Mbuti people, an Indigenous group in the Ituri Forest in the Congo area of Africa, for three years. This book is an ethnographic account of this time, although the scientific aspect of it gives way to more of a story-like piece. Either way, Turnbull does provide much of what an ethnography does; he describes the daily lives, culture, and traditions of the Mbuti people that he observed for others to read.

This text is one that I appreciate for many reasons. I read it in my very first year of college in a sociology course, before I picked the discipline up as a major. The similarities to anthropology were intriguing, and I enjoyed that we read a book by an anthropologist as well. This book was one of my earliest experiences with ethnography, which is something that I have grown to love and what many of the texts on this list are categorized as. For those sentimental reasons, and the fact that I am thankful to have been introduced to ethnography, I am attached to this text. I remember being truly excited to learn about another culture and to experience this crossover between culture, writing, and science. I have fond memories of this text.

However, I read this early in my studies, and didn’t question it much at the time. When I look back, though, I think about what I have learned about anthropology and ethnography in the time since. I know that lines can be crossed (and often are), and anthropology—like many, if not most—disciplines has a history that must be remembered and learned from. An obsession with exoticism, a foundation of white privilege, and roots in colonial mentality can be found in many ethnographies. I frequently think about the ways in which Turnbull may have perpetuated these issues, and I intend to one day go back and reread this book; I can still appreciate the many good things about it, while being aware of and critical of the faults.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness — Michelle Alexander

Michelle Alexander, using powerful evidence, demonstrates how mass incarceration is the system that replaced Jim Crow laws. While many people would like to believe that we live in a post-racism society, mass incarceration is a form of social control that is still used to oppress Black people today. She lays out how it developed out of many past racist systems, like slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the War on Drugs.

Alexander makes the point that, while blatant racism is supposedly no longer acceptable in our society, the War on Drugs gave white people a reason to lock Black people up and have their human and civil rights stripped away from them. America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and it disproportionately affects Black Americans.

At the time of my reading this text, I had entered the second semester of my freshman year. I added sociology as a major and was beginning to open my eyes to more of the realities of the world. While I had been aware of racism and mass incarceration prior to this sociology course and to the reading of this book, my knowledge was rather limited and it was not a topic as close to the forefront of my mind as it should have been.

After reading Alexander’s book, I am far more informed than I had been previously, and this issue is now something I think about with frequency. This text fueled my ever increasing rage at the extreme social inequity in our society.

“Of Cannibals” — Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne’s essay is progressive for its time (1580). He wrote about the Tupinambá tribe in Brazil and described the workings of their lives and customs. He wrote in detail about simple, daily things like their housing, eating, and sleeping. Further, he discussed their values as a tribe and what war is like for them. In particular, he told of how it is their tradition to eat the bodies of their enemies, not for nutrients but for honor.

I was assigned this reading in the first semester of my sophomore year of college. At this point I had taken some anthropology courses, and thus had learned more about other cultures and anthropological practices. When reading this essay, I was able to critically appreciate Montaigne’s stance.

I enjoyed this essay and the description of another culture, just because I find that to be incredibly interesting. However, I also thought the message of the essay was very important. Montaigne used cultural relativism in this essay, which means that he recognized the need to understand this culture in its own terms, instead of holding it to the same standard as his own. He did not judge the tribe for their practices and condemned the belief that anything outside of one’s own culture must be “barbaric”. To demonstrate the irony of referring to the tribe and its customs as barbaric, Montaigne compared the ceremonious cannibalism to the horrific torture practices of Europe in the 16^th century.

Cultural relativism is something that I found to be fundamental in my studies, and I think that it should be taught more widely. Montaigne’s essay was an interesting example of this, and I really enjoyed reading about a new culture in a way that calls attention to the unjust poor treatment of people seen as the “other”. Once again, though, after the growth in my knowledge, I think that perhaps if I were to go back and reread this, I may find some exoticism and a patronizing romanticism of a different culture present.

The Communist Manifesto — Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

In The Communist Manifesto Marx described the development of capitalism and of the bourgeoisie as a ruling class using a materialist perspective. He also described the proletariat class, made up of workers, and the experiences of this social class. Further, he argued that capitalism influences culture; it destroys the traditional belief system and replaces it. He believed the characteristics of capitalism to involve the revolutionizing of product, the disturbance of societal conditions, and a constant uncertainty. Overall, he believed the capitalist system to be unstable.

In the past I have struggled slightly with understanding economics and government in great depth, but I have also always known that our society’s current situation is not working. This text provided me with a deeper understanding of what is wrong with the current system and provided me with information to back this stance. After having read it twice, once for Honors and again for a theory course in sociology, I have a much better grasp of the material, and it has contributed to my political ideology and economic ideals. This text, when combined with life events and experience, influenced my shift in perspective.

I also recognize this to be a starting point in my journey. As many students have called for the Honors College to diversify its required readings, I note the importance of that for myself as well. There are many societies throughout history and across cultures that have existed outside of capitalism, and there are many marginalized people who suffer greatly due to capitalism; these are perspectives that I want to learn from, as they will best be able to discuss the harms of capitalism and the greatest alternatives.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl — Harriet Jacobs

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a first-person account of Harriet Jacobs’ life experiences. Jacobs grew up with two parents who were enslaved, but after the death of her mother and then her mother’s mistress, she was sent off to live with a relative of the mistress. In this situation, she experienced horrific treatment. To avoid this, she entered a relationship with a white neighbor and had two children. Because of this, she was sent to become a field hand and her children were soon to follow, so she planned to escape to the North. This involved her hiding in an attic for seven years. Eventually, she was reunited with her children in the North, but she was never free.

I read this book the first semester of sophomore year; I suppose this semester was a rather important one in my development, given the texts that I read and how many of them stuck with me. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, in particular, is the kind of text that I find myself especially appreciative of, which is why it made this list. I think it is crucial to hear stories directly from people in a certain situation, so reading Harriet Jacobs’ account of her life and what it was like to be enslaved is incredibly moving. Further, her strength as a person was awe inspiring to read about, although it is unforgivable that it was ever required in that capacity and it must never happen again. On top of that, it is just a truly emotional topic that shows the truly darkest parts of humanity and one that makes me think a lot about the inequities our society was founded on and just how much of that racist “past” remains to this day.

Survival in Auschwitz (If This is a Man)— Primo Levi

Primo Levi was an Italian chemist who took part in the Italian resistance and was sent to Auschwitz. This book is an autobiography that details Levi’s ten months spent in Auschwitz, and the horrors he witnessed and experienced. He and other people who had been deported to the Nazi death camp faced inhuman conditions and treatment. By the time the Russians liberated the camp, he was one of the very few people still alive.

I read this book in my final Honors Civilizations Sequence semester, and I think that it was a fitting end. This book captures the human condition in a way far different from most; it describes in extensive detail some of the worst moments of humanity and reveals humans at the lowest of lows. While painful to read of this mass human suffering, I think it is crucial that this history be remembered, and Levi presents his experience for others’ awareness.

His story evokes a lot of emotion, but he presents it as an observer; his goal was to tell the world what occurred in Auschwitz and he accomplished that. As someone invested in human rights and learning about social inequity, it would be ridiculous for me to say that this text, which looks at a time in human history where fascism trampled those rights and inequity reached one of its peaks, did not impact me. To understand this dark time, to never forget, and to constantly learn from it is to combat fascism, and Levi provided a memoir to help humanity do just that.

Ishi’s Brain: In Search of the Last “Wild” Indian — Orin Starn

Orin Starn is an anthropologist who wrote of his mission to uncover all of the information about Ishi, a Yahi man, and to track down his missing brain in order to repatriate. In this book, Starn provided the history of the Yahi and their extermination. He coupled this background with what information he could find and turn up about Ishi’s life, both to document this and in hopes of discovering the remains of Ishi. Starn gave a lot of important information about the terrible conditions Native Americans were subjected to, shed light on early anthropology, and told the story of Ishi.

By junior year, I had taken many anthropology courses and was more aware of the history of the discipline, but still thoroughly in love with it. This text made me reconcile the facts that I am truly fond of anthropology but that anthropology does have a deeply problematic history in a lot of ways. While I read Ishi’s Brain, I was very appreciative to be learning about a culture unfamiliar to me that deserves to be remembered, and I recognized the importance of understanding America’s and anthropology’s tumultuous relationship with Native Americans.

At the same time, it was deeply saddening to read about a culture coming to an end, and unnecessarily so. With this text I once again find myself grateful for a book with content that makes me think deeply about the disciplines I am in and my place in a society where inequity has existed from the very beginning.

$2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America — H. Luke Shaefer and Kathryn Edin

Shaefer and Edin worked together to research poverty. In particular, they discovered that about one and a half million households in America survive on an income of $2.00 per person, per day. Their book follows some of these families, examining and reporting on where they live, what their daily lives are like, and their situations in poverty. This book is an ethnography-style piece that gives a close up look at the people who live in poverty in America, and shares their struggles with the world.

This text coincided with my increasing focus on the intersectionality of inequity, and my ever deepening despise for capitalism and a society that believes one can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”. Junior year saw my studies about different forms of inequity come together, and this course was the peak of this. In particular, $2.00 a Day was a clear example of intersectionality; the experiences of the people in this book show that poverty is an overarching issue, but race and gender both factor in heavily. Shaefer and Edin followed many women, which is fitting as women are more likely to live in poverty, and people of color, equally fitting for the same reason. The concept of intersectionality is one that I am very passionate about, and learning more about it, especially through an ethnography-style text that resonates with me, was an important moment for me. Since then, I have only become more aware of intersectionality, and it has aided the development of my interest in understanding social inequity.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City — Matthew Desmond

For Evicted, sociologist Matthew Desmond followed eight families that struggled with the process of eviction. This book used the stories of these people and their experiences, as well as statistics, to reveal the massive issue of eviction in U.S. society and what living in poverty with no stable home is like. Desmond demonstrated that eviction is also a cause of poverty, and not just a result of it. Through situating himself in the world of people experiencing this and listening to their stories, Desmond revealed the realities of eviction.

This text is very similar to $2.00 a Day, and I read it for the same sociology course. The focus on poverty and the ethnography-like style resembles the previous text. However, it is important enough to me that I think it deserves its own mention. While I appreciate the text for many of the same reasons, including the intersectionality and the style of the book, I also learned about things I didn’t have any knowledge of from my previous readings. Specifically, eviction as a tool of poverty. I did not realize the extent of eviction in the U.S., the reach of its detrimental effects on people and families, and how it is weaponized to keep people in poverty poor.

The idea that certain things in our society, like eviction, can be weaponized to hold a group down, is enraging. And it is not limited to eviction. This text taught me to take a surface level understanding of something, like eviction, and look deeper to see the magnitude of the consequences and what large-scale results are accomplished through that one tool. The entire structure of our society, at every level, is set up to keep power in the hands of those it currently rests with.

American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate — Pete Simi and Robert Futrell

American Swastika is an ethnography that relies on extensive research and interviews done within the White Power Movement. The authors conducted this research and shared it in hopes of teaching the nation and the world more about this issue, with the idea that understanding will help combat the problem. This book reveals a lot about the people within the WPM, including how they join, what their beliefs are, what their lives look like, and the culture of the movement.

It is hard to say that I ‘enjoyed’ this book. Part of me did, in a way. The style of the book makes for a riveting read, and I acknowledge and value the aims of the authors. However, this is the first ethnography that hasn’t excited me, because the culture of the WPM is not one that I find myself drawn to in any way. This book was incredibly difficult to digest, and it is hard to just sit back and learn about something so despicable and wrong, especially when it evokes powerful emotions like rage and even hatred.

This text still shaped me, though. I read it recently, in the first semester of my senior year. It is a clear indicator that I am still learning and growing. I appreciate the message of the authors and I agree that understanding is key to combatting this issue. Further, it forced me to shift my ideas about ethnography and why I enjoy it; I find it to be an important style even when it is about a culture that I do not respect. And of course, this book is a reminder of a potent form of social inequity and threat to human rights that is ever-present in our society.

Gangsters Without Borders: An Ethnography of a Salvadoran Street Gang — Thomas W. Ward

An extensive period of participant observation by Thomas Ward produced this resulting ethnography that details the lives of members of MS-13. These hard-core members reveal their reasons for joining, what their lives are like, and the inner-workings of being part of a gang. Ward’s book challenges the common stereotypes about gangs and provides a good look at the realities of this life.

Prior to this book, I hadn’t given much thought to gangs, but during my reading I realized that I held some of the stereotypes that much of society does. I figured gang life to be fast-paced and always hazardous, rife with criminal activity of some sort. In fact, as Ward reveals, members spend a lot of their time just hanging out and doing regular activities like playing video games, smoking, and socializing. I also learned a lot about the marginalization that leads these young kids to feel the need to join gangs, and furthered my knowledge of the underlying social inequities that cause this problem. I found myself struggling to truly condemn their decisions and feeling more sympathy than anything else.

Overall, I once again enjoyed an ethnography sharing the stories of people’s experiences, and appreciated the connection to my interests in social inequity. But this text also made me question morality in general. A lot of people have a problem with gang members because they view them as criminals, lawbreakers, and bad people. And while there is criminal activity and lawbreaking, I personally find that that is not the determining factor in my labelling of someone as a bad person.

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If you read through these summaries of and reflections on the books I read in undergrad, thank you! I know it is a bit of a different format than I will be going for. But, I figured that while I am working on reading through the books that are next up for reviews and analyses, and as I work on those, it might be good to share some of the texts I’ve read in the past. Especially as some of these are extremely relevant today. With social inequity still at extreme highs, systems of oppression and marginalization impacting many, and ongoing genocides and the enslavement of people around the globe, I find myself comparing our current realities to what I have learned from these books. Hopefully, the knowledge I have taken from these works can aid me in working for change today. And perhaps this piece will convince others to read some of these titles and learn from them as I have.