Particularize Regarding Books Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
| Title | : | Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets |
| Author | : | Sudhir Venkatesh |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 302 pages |
| Published | : | January 10th 2008 by Penguin Press (first published 2008) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Sociology. Autobiography. Memoir. Economics. Mystery. Crime. Biography. Politics |
Commentary During Books Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was first described in Freakonomics. Gang Leader for a Day is the fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatesh managed to gain entrée into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment.
When Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago's most notorious housing projects, he was looking for people to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty. A first-year grad student, he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of the next decade inside the projects under JT's protection, documenting what he saw there.
Over the next seven years, Venkatesh observed JT and the rest of the gang as they operated their crack selling business, conducted PR within their community, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang's complex organizational structure.
Gang Leader for a Day is an inside view into the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, often corrupt struggle to survive in an urban war zone. It is also the story of a complicated friendship between two young and ambitious men, a universe apart.
Describe Books In Pursuance Of Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
| Original Title: | Gang Leader for a Day |
| ISBN: | 1594201501 (ISBN13: 9781594201509) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Chicago, Illinois(United States) |
Rating Regarding Books Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
Ratings: 4.04 From 20568 Users | 1760 ReviewsJudgment Regarding Books Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
If you live in Chicago, or have any interest in the lives of poor people in cities in the US you must read this book. Gang Leader for a Day is engaging, powerful, and believable. The only times I did not enjoy this book were when I couldn't deal with the difficult realities it laid out. This is not to say that it is bleak or a slog. The book moves at a cracking pace. The stories are personal and specific while painting a picture of a much larger world.As a recent Chicago resident, I found this book fascinating (and a pretty horrifying at times). It made me feel more compassion towards those impacted by violence that happens in the city and more aware of the complexities of helping impoverished communities. Heads up- there is an obscene amount of profanity in conversations Venkatesh recounts.
There is so little information about and so many stereotypes within mainstream America about how ghettos function, even though thousands of Americans live in them, that this book is a welcome contribution to poverty literature. As a sociologist-in-training, Sudhir Venkatesh stumbles upon a unique opportunity to gain a lense into the inner workings of the American ghetto when he wanders into one of the worst housing projects in Chicago clutching pens and a survey that asks, "How does it feel to
How embarrassing! I can't believe Sudhir believes that this account is even remotely scholarly (as it should be, coming from an "expert" in the field--he has a responsibility to portray his research accurately as a representative of his discipline, even if this is meant for a popular audience). There are several points that made this book ridiculous:1. Sudhir clearly idolizes JT and I think this clouds his ability to view JT and his work objectively2. Sudhir painfully recollects his utter lack
This author is a moron. Even after spending years in the projects, he still doesn't know how things work. I was really blown away by his naivety and lack of common sense. He's surprised that gangs use violence. He's surprised when he finds out the gang has dealings in prostitution. He's happy when the gang leader takes an interest in the author's pet project to find out exactly how much everyone's earning and then is shocked, shocked I tell you, when the gang leader uses that to extort more
Sudhir Venkatesh must have grown up in a bubble in California, which certainly has really vicious gangs in Compton and in East LA. A son of an academic, he arrives at the University of Chicago to do his Ph.D. in Sociology, and then ventures outside of its bubble into the Chicago ghetto, and to the Taylor housing projects. He knows nothing about urban blacks, apparently, and nothing about gangs, drugs, and projects. Nonetheless, he spends six years interviewing people in the projects who
Sudhir Venkatesh had a problem when researching and writing this book. It was supposed to be pure sociology but turned out to be gonzo journalism. Venkatesh simply enjoyed being with the gang members. He enjoyed, it seemed, all aspects of gang life except the crime and violence. He liked the macho all-boys-together, he liked the idea of it being an alternative economy run by people who are not more or less corrupt and violent than the legitimate one. Some of them were even involved in charity
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