An excellent account of our innate need for collective joy and the orchestrated effort (and success) by elite, white men and women to suppress that joy in order to stave off rebellion and freedom for all. So glad I picked thus up as it helps me to understand social justice movements, Western religion, and classism in a deeper way.

I heard about the book during a training with White Awake (check them out!) and another important aspect of this book is watching the evolution of white people's various cultures slowly (but intentionally) moving away from joy, freedom of expression, and community to stoicism, restraint, and individualism.

Highly recommended for white folks who are seeking to understand whiteness, those seeking to dismantle the myth of white supremacy, anyone seeking to build community and movements, and history buffs in general.

really good but niche. i think it’s a tough one to really get excited about unless you really love the topic. maggie rogers recommended it so i had to read it

Not the fun read I expected! Limited perspective and, ironically, a bit joyless

This book was not at all what I was expecting, but still had some interesting points.

What I liked:
- Interesting observations on the history of rituals and festivities lending themselves to protest and dissent.
- I enjoyed the commentary on how religion and class impacted collective rituals.

What I didn’t like:
- Overall the book was more Eurocentric than I would have liked. I was excited to get a taste of a wide swath of cultures and time periods, but the book was pretty narrowly focused on a European/Christian lens.
- The author showed a moment of awareness around this euro centrist slant about halfway through the book, but then proceeded to only dedicate one chapter to non-white culture. That was very disappointing.
- When the author did address non-European cultures, it felt like an afterthought, or like they were treated only in the context of how they come into contact with Europeans.

I wish the author had been more cognizant of writing a more well-rounded book of more diverse cultures, or had been more accurate in the naming of the book. Call it what it is— a European history of Collective Joy— instead of acting like all of human history should be looked at from the lens of white people.

Great concept, but Western focused with a poor grasp on the scholarship. Definitely motivated towards collectivism, which I suppose is to be expected.