Graphic by Delaney Gardner ’26
By Sophie Frank ’26
Books Editor
The contentious 2024 election is finally upon us. Many are feeling a lot of emotions: anxiety, fear and anger, to name a few. In the spirit of using books to educate and inspire us, here are three books to read going into election season.
“Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
Published in May 2020, this book explores contemporary Evangelical Christianity and explains how the religion came to be so enmeshed with conservative politics, particularly the rise of Trumpism. “‘Jesus and John Wayne’ is a sweeping account of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, showing how American evangelicals have worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism,” Du Mez’s website states. The author is a historian and professor of history and gender studies who writes about right-wing politics and Christianity. Du Mez also has ties to the Five College Consortium, having spent time at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center when it was still located at Mount Holyoke. “How did a libertine who lacks even the most basic knowledge of the Christian faith win 81 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016?” she asks, discussing Donald Trump. For people who want a deeper understanding of these topics, or are still analyzing Trump’s rise to political infamy in 2015, this book will expand your perspective and increase your knowledge of history.
“The Future We Need: Organizing for a Better Democracy in the Twenty-First Century” by Erica Smiley and Sarita Gupta ’96
With this election having brought problems with the American democratic process to the fore, this book, co-written by a Mount Holyoke alum, is particularly salient. In “The Future We Need,” the authors discuss labor organizing and worker power, offering solutions to better the conditions of modern workers. “[The book] illustrates the necessity of centralizing the fight against white supremacy and gender discrimination, while offering paths forward to harness the power of collective bargaining in every area for a new era,” Cornell University Press writes. Sarita Gupta ’96 is the vice president of U.S. programs at Ford Foundation, overseeing the foundation’s work towards creativity and free expression, as well as gender and racial justice. The book focuses on the potential for improvement in the future, helping to alleviate feelings of hopelessness through real, grounded solutions.
“Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes” by John B. Judis and Ruy Teixeira
As some Mount Holyoke students vote in their first presidential election and others question what it means for young people to be involved in electoral politics, consider a book that analyzes the shifting demographics of the Democratic party. The Financial Times describes the book as “a rigorous dissection of how and why the once formidable Democratic coalition — forged almost a century ago in the New Deal era — has fallen apart.” The authors analyze the reasons why American political polarization has become so extreme, and argue that both parties have lost sight of the needs of their voter bases. Democrats, they explain, have alienated many of their key demographics in their fight for political victory. According to The New York Times, the book serves as “a much-needed wake-up call for the Democrats, which reveals how the party has lost sight of its core principles and endangered its political future.” While this book may not inspire optimism, it is a crucial dissection of the political moment in which Gen Z is coming of age.
With politics in an uncertain and anxiety-inducing place, it is important to look at our history and understand how we got here, as well as consider possibilities for the future. No matter how you are feeling ahead of the election, reading and learning will always be a form of power.
Abigail McKeon ’26 contributed fact-checking.