Who Do We Trust? - Power, Solidarity, and Anti-Authoritarianism

Distrust is in the air-of politicians, corporations, and the institutions that claim to protect us. Trust is often seen as the foundation of a better society-but better for whom? While some forms of radical trust can foster survival, resistance, and movement-building, others entrench inequality and uphold the domination of elite groups.

Who Do We Trust? shatters conventional wisdom, revealing how trust in hierarchical institutions perpetuates inequality and consolidates power among the elite. Drawing on examples from the war on Gaza, the rise of the MAGA movement, police violence, and the global response to refugees, Dana Williams challenges us to question who truly deserves our trust and who doesn't.

This bold, timely exploration unearths social relationships, cultures of resistance, and the urgent fight to reclaim trust from those who exploit it. 

List of contents

Preface

1. Us and Other People: What Trust Is

2. Who Do You Trust?: Some of the Ways That Trust Works

3. The Cancer of Hierarchy: How Social Trust Gets Fucked Up

4. Misplaced Trust: Being Smart About Trust

5. Trust, Disaster, and Changing Circumstances: Trust's Volatility

6. A Reason to Trust-Trust in Revolution: How We Can Strategically Use Trust

About the author

Dana M. Williams is Professor of Sociology at California State University, Chico, and the author of Black Flags and Social Movements and co-author of Anarchy and Society. A political sociologist, Williams focuses on social movements, inequalities, and trust.

Product details

• Authors: Dana M. Williams, Williams Dana M.
• Publisher: Pluto
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.10.2025
• EAN: 9780745350646
• ISBN: 978-0-7453-5064-6
• No. of pages: 320
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Future Studies, PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Radicalism, PSYCHOLOGY / Interpersonal Relations, Ethics & moral philosophy, Political structure & processes, Political leaders & leadership, Social discrimination & inequality, Ethics and moral philosophy, Institutions and learned societies: general, Political leaders and leadership, Anarchism, Political structure and processes, Government powers, Social discrimination and social justice, Institutions & learned societies: general