Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

By:

Synopsis
When first-year graduate student Sudhir Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago’s most notorious housing projects, he hoped to find a few people willing to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty--and impress his professors with his boldness. He never imagined that as a result of this assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade embedded inside the projects under JT’s protection. From a privileged position of unprecedented access, Venkatesh observed JT and the rest of his gang as they operated their crack-selling business, made peace with their neighbors, evaded the law, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang’s complex hierarchical structure. Examining the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, and often corrupt struggle to survive in an urban war zone, Gang Leader for a Day also tells the story of the complicated friendship that develops between Venkatesh and JT--two young and ambitious men a universe apart.

Chosen for Mark Zuckerberg's "A Year of Books"

Copyright:
2008

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
332 Pages
ISBN-13:
9781440631894
Related ISBNs:
9780143114932
Publisher:
PENGUIN group
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Sudhir Venkatesh, 2
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Psychology, Sociology
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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