Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt

We are witnessing a moment of unprecedented political engagement and social activism. Pundits once fretted about Americans' apathy, but in the last few years we’ve seen uprisings and protests across the country: the growth of the Tea Party, the successful fight for a $15 minimum wage, BlackLivesMatter, Occupy Wall Street, and the grassroots networks supporting presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders.

In Necessary Trouble, journalist Sarah Jaffe leads readers into the heart of these movements, explaining what has made ordinary Americans from Seattle to St. Louis to Atlanta become activists. As Jaffe shows, Americans, regardless of political alignment, are boldly challenging who wields power in this country. They are poised to permanently remake politics as we know it—and in many cases, they already have.

Striking a tone that simultaneously infuriates and inspires journalist Jaffe gives a macro level overview of recent protest movements including Occupy Wall Street the Wisconsin Capitol protesters Black Lives Matter and lesser known social justice groups. Her book examines these movements with a spare intelligent style. Jaffe explores how the movements cross pollinate and evolve providing insightful analysis of the underlying trends that emerge across different groups. Along with original reporting and research of media coverage Jaffe includes historical background and testimonies of active participants creating holistic pictures of these movements. Some mention is made of protest parties of the right (such as the Tea Party) but the majority of the book focuses on movements associated with the left. It provides insight to those confused by the recent uptick in protests and unorthodox political candidates and a rallying cry to those currently working in these social justice movements—though it’s unlikely the book will convert any partisan readers. “Messages don’t succeed because they say something new” Jaffe writes but “because they explain something that people feel but have been at a loss to explain.” For readers feeling frustrated and unrepresented in politics today this book is just such a message. Agent: Lydia Wills Lydia Wills LLC. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."

Striking a tone that simultaneously infuriates and inspires journalist Jaffe gives a macro level overview of recent protest movements including Occupy Wall Street the Wisconsin Capitol protesters Black Lives Matter and lesser known social justice groups. Her book examines these movements with a spare intelligent style. Jaffe explores how the movements cross pollinate and evolve providing insightful analysis of the underlying trends that emerge across different groups. Along with original reporting and research of media coverage Jaffe includes historical background and testimonies of active participants creating holistic pictures of these movements. Some mention is made of protest parties of the right (such as the Tea Party) but the majority of the book focuses on movements associated with the left. It provides insight to those confused by the recent uptick in protests and unorthodox political candidates and a rallying cry to those currently working in these social justice movements—though it’s unlikely the book will convert any partisan readers. “Messages don’t succeed because they say something new” Jaffe writes but “because they explain something that people feel but have been at a loss to explain.” For readers feeling frustrated and unrepresented in politics today this book is just such a message. Agent: Lydia Wills Lydia Wills LLC. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."

"History is filled with stories of rebellion—and not just history, as Sarah Jaffe shows. What we’ve too often lacked are reporters willing and able to weave one-day stories into meaningful fabric. Jaffe does just that, with depth and breadth and eloquence. Necessary Trouble is necessary reading, and Jaffe’s arrival is something to celebrate." Laura Flanders, host and founder of The Laura Flanders Show

"Necessary Trouble is American history at its freshest and most compelling. Sarah Jaffe traces the many ways—from left to right—that Americans have risen up in response to the country’s ongoing takeover by the obscenely rich. Sometimes we have to make trouble, and, as Jaffe reports, we’re pretty damn good at it!" Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed

"While commercial media can’t seem to turn away from the Trump circus or Hillary’s emails, Sarah Jaffe follows America’s new radicals. And in doing so, tells a far more consequential story—one that reveals our recent past and an alternative future. The most compelling social and political portrait of our age, Necessary Trouble should be mandatory for anyone who thinks justice is necessary." Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination

"Sarah Jaffe marches into the class war, fighting the good fight with a pen as sharp as any sword." Bill Moyers

"The most compelling social and political portrait of our age." Robin D. G. Kelley

Sarah Jaffe is a Nation Institute fellow and an independent journalist covering labor, economic justice, social movements, politics, gender, and pop culture. Her work has appeared in The Nation, Salon, the Week, American Prospect, Washington Post, Atlantic, and many other publications. She is the co-host, with Michelle Chen, of Dissent magazine's Belabored podcast, as well as an editorial board member at Dissent and a columnist at New Labor Forum. Jaffe was formerly a staff writer at In These Times and the labor editor at AlterNet. She was a contributing editor on The 99%: How the Occupy Wall Street Movement is Changing America, from AlterNet books, as well as a contributor to the anthologies At the Tea Party and Tales of Two Cities, both from OR Books. She was also the web director at GRITtv with Laura Flanders.