This "groundbreaking study of the increasing influence of cultural outsiders" ("The Philadelphia Inquirer") is "at once an ode to the underrepresented and a reporting tour de force" ("The Writer"). Alissa Quart, "one of the smartest cultural interpreters of her generation" (Susan Cain, author of "Quiet"), introduces us to those who have created new

Republic of Outsiders is a look at the growing number of American outsiders who disrupt the status quo: the outcasts who seek to redefine a wide variety of fields, from film and mental health to music and gender. These people range from professional and amateur filmmakers crowd-sourcing their work, to transgender and autistic activists, and Occupy Wall Street's 'alternative bankers'. They are the groups that have forged a new cultural practice Quart dubs 'identity innovation'; pushing the boundaries of who are they are and what they can achieve.