American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now, by Paul Starr

American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now

by former Junior Fellow Paul Starr (1975 - 78)

In this new history of the United States since the 1950s, Starr, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction, explores America's contradictory sets of values and interests. The nation was born in the contradiction between freedom and slavery. Today it is beset by a contradiction between a changing people and a resisting nation, a nation with entrenched institutions that have empowered those who fear the changes and look to restore an old America of their imagining.

Published October 14, 2025 by Yale University Press