Grassroots Politics And The Rise Of Evangelical Conservatism Summary

During the course of the book, From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism, author Darren Dochuk argues that it is average people and groups that forged the connections between evangelical Christianity and modern politics in Southern California during the 1930s and the 1980s. With “Southern California [serving] as the lab for this endeavor, [with] its evangelical entrepreneurialism a catalyzing force” (113-14). The author declares that it is the plain folk who jump start the formation of a relationship, the preachers who made further advances in it and then the entrepreneurs who tie it all together, giving it life. With this, Dochuk evokes the idea that it was not the elites …show more content…
Starting with the Great Depression and ending with the election of Reagan, Dochuk attempts to explain how religion and politics relate, with some references to the cultural alterations in Southern California. Using a style of chronological order, the reader is transported into this period and given an analysis of what occurred in sequence. The author also uses the stories of real people to help narrate these nationwide events. For example, in the beginning of the book, the reader is introduced to the story of Jean Vandruff, who after hardships with his family, ultimately moves to California in search of work. “[He] grew up in a society that could not stand still. At the moment he began his trip west, fifteen million other Americans we on the move… in search of decent jobs at the city’s automobile, airplane and rubber factories” (4-5). The author’s inclusion of this account is used to helped the reader understand the massive amount of people moving out of rural life into the city life and their purpose for doing it. Once they have been established in the Californian communities, “During the mid-1950s they built hundreds of new churches, interdenominational organizations, and media enterprises, all of which testified to their command of suburbia. Such economic empowerment bred intellectual change” (169), showing that they have made real change there. The author want the reader to see how evangelicals have started in their efforts to integrate their beliefs into the communities. This change is then transformed into “… effectively blending the priorities of evangelism with the new corporate structure” (185). Following the instilling of their beliefs, they have now successfully melded with the rest of California. In closing of the book, Reagan has been elected and the “…Evangelicals were just as thrilled by what has happened that evening, and their excitement only grew