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Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets - Sudhir Venkatesh
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
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4.00 105
First introduced in Freakonomics, here is the full story of Sudhir Venkatesh, the sociology grad student who infiltrated one of Chicago's most notorious gangs The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was... show more
First introduced in Freakonomics, here is the full story of Sudhir Venkatesh, the sociology grad student who infiltrated one of Chicago's most notorious gangs 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 entrance 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 hoping to impress his professors with his boldness, he never imagined that as a result of the assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade inside the projects under JT's protection, documenting what he saw there. Over the next seven years, Venkatesh got to know the neighborhood dealers, crackheads, squatters, prostitutes, pimps, activists, cops, organizers, and officials. From his privileged position of unprecedented access, he 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. In Hollywood-speak, Gang Leader for a Day is The Wire meets Harvard University. It's a brazen, page turning, and fundamentally honest view into the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, often corrupt struggle to survive in what is tantamount to an urban war zone. It is also the story of a complicated friendship between Sudhir and JT-two young and ambitious men a universe apart.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9781594201509 (1594201501)
Publisher: Penguin
Pages no: 302
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Chris' Fish Place
Chris' Fish Place rated it
5.0
So wow. Still important look at living in the "projects". Part of the entertainment is watching the author be brave enough to chronicle his own mistakes in his study, but it is a great in depth look.
nouveau
nouveau rated it
5.0 Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
first covered in Freakonomics, Venkatesh is a grad student who wandered into a top Chicago crack gang and then ended up covering their story over seven years. incisively written, a good ending, and nice unity of prose.knew a u/chicago guy who once allowed a gang member to sleep over in the lounge fi...
Reading Junkie
Reading Junkie rated it
4.0
This is a really good overview of gang life in Chicago's projects and of the political and social corruption that exist all over Chicago to this day.I recommend this book to everyone - especially people who grew up privileged and sheltered, and people who say ignorant things like "you should have to...
So Many Books, So Little Time
So Many Books, So Little Time rated it
4.0
I liked this book, even though it was extremely distressing. It left me with a powerful and lingering sense of "Now what?" I plan to read more about other housing projects and then see what I can do to get involved.
Uncertain, Fugitive, Half-fabulous
Uncertain, Fugitive, Half-fabulous rated it
4.0
I got this for a class I'm taking with Professor Venkatesh. We only read the first three chapters for class, so I figure I'll read the rest once the semester's over. What I read so far, though, was very, very good.Also, so far his class is great.
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