Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Crosses the Line: Amazon.co.uk: Sudhir Venkatesh: Books

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Product Description

Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.
"Whether you enjoy fiction, history, or biography you'll be drawn to Venkatesh's gripping retelling of his experiences in the Robert Taylor Homes."

Steven D. Levitt, co-author, Freakonomics
" an absolutely incredible book... equal parts comedy and tragedy... I promise you will not be able to put it down."

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
During my first weeks at the University of Chicago, in the fall of 1989, I had to attend a variety of orientation sessions. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

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3.8 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Naive Graduate Student Learns about Life in the Projects, 6 Feb 2008

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This book is as riveting an academic research report as you are ever likely to read.

In Freakonomics, many people were fascinated by a section that described how most crack cocaine dealers lived at home with their mothers. Why? They make less money than minimum wage. The source of that factoid was research conducted on site by Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a Day, who describes in this book how he did that research and came to make decisions one day for part of the Black Kings gang in Chicago.

In the process of reading this book, you'll learn more than you ever expected to know about the ways that the poorest people support and protect themselves. You'll also find how drug-dealing gangs are both a help and a hindrance to the poor.

More powerfully, you'll be exposed to the great difficulties involved in observing the lives of the poor and the gangs that spring from them. The moral and ethical dilemmas this book presents are almost beyond belief.

Professor Venkatesh was a graduate student at the University of Chicago when his curiosity about the school's neighbors caused him to draft a questionnaire and head for the largest local housing project. Once there, he was detained by the gang whose territory he had invaded. Knowing nothing of gangs, he spent an uncomfortable night wondering what would happen to him. He piqued the curiosity of the gang's leader, J.T., and was granted ever widening access to the gang's activities and to the lives of those in their territory.

Take a close look at those who need help before deciding you know the answers.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Chilling Journey Into the Projects, 20 Jul 2008

By	Steve Keen "therealus" (Herts, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Some time ago The Economist ran an article about the market for drugs, describing the sophisticated marketing strategies adopted by sellers - entry level products, loss leaders, special offers - in order to reel in the punters. Only at the end did the piece carry the reminder that oh, by the way, all of this is also illegal.

In a reversal of the process, Sudhir Venkatesh presents a largely jargon-free account of his ten-year sociological study of urban poverty, and particularly the attendant gang culture, in the projects of Chicago.

Moving to the city as a graduate student in 1989, Venkatesh wants quickly to make a name for himself and to that end walks unknowingly into the territory of the Black Kings (BKs) to ask the folks therein what it's like to be black and poor. Initially suspected of being a spy for a rival gang and incarcerated overnight on a urine-soaked stairwell by the BKs, Venkatesh soon becomes in quick succession a source of entertainment for, potential immortaliser of, and most unlikely confidant to gang leader JT.

JT himself is both compellingly charismatic and chillingly brutal in the disposition of his duties as a Director of the local BK enterprise. Venkatesh finds himself constantly conflicted by the activities he witnesses, fascinated by JT's leadership abilities and nauseated by some of his methods. On the pivotal Day for which Venkatesh becomes "Gang Leader" he is given an intimate view of JT's day as he resolves dilemmas many managers will recognise - agency problems, motivational issues, supplier relationships - sometimes in ways most of us as managers don't (often, at least!) resort to.

But this is about more than gangs. Venkatesh also details the complex social network that exists within the projects: the role the gangs play as enforcers in the absence of the police, the mutual support that exists particularly among the women, the operation of the informal economy, and the role of the various power brokers, official and self-appointed.

Sadly, the whole fragile structure unravels before our eyes as the authorities, in the name of progress, demolish the projects without the mitigation of providing an alternative for the powerless residents.

Through all this the author is both the key witness and also a vital participant: as with any research, it is impossible for him to have no impact on his subjects, and that impact is sometimes benign, sometimes detrimental. But there is little sense of excessive self-regard for his own role, and in fact he is quite open about his own inadequacies when confronted by the day-to-day challenges of project life.

All of this adds up to a compelling and sometimes disturbing peek into a life most of us will hopefully never have to experience. Venkatesh has done a good job of relating the tale, and at the end I found myself joining him in wringing hands with frustration that the world's most powerful economy has as yet shown neither the ability nor the will to eradicate the poverty that is all too prevalent within its own borders.

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5.0 out of 5 stars What an eye-opener! Totally compelling, 2 Sep 2008

By	Snapdragon (London) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

At the beginning of `Gang leader for a Day', Sudhir Venkatesh is an incredibly naive Sociology student with a great deal of curiosity. Becoming frustrated with the dryness of his chosen subject and wanting to focus on `people' rather than statistics, he heads into the Chicago projects with a backpack full of questionnaires to go through with gang members. With what we later learn, he was lucky he wasn't killed. Sudhir meets the charismatic gang leader, JT, who for whatever reason takes him under his wing and gives him privileged access to life in the projects and gang activity (he does appear to think that Sudhir is writing his biography which might be why he is so co-operative.) Sudhir goes on to mix with the gang and other people in the projects for several years, becoming a trusted sounding-board for many.

This was an absolutely incredible book. Not only do we meet interesting people and learn how they cope with such a brutal way of life; we also learn about the role of the researcher and the way they interact with the subjects of their research. There are times when Sudhir admits to being naive or when he feels uneasy that he has stept over a line and all this is included in the book. One of the most eye-opening things for me was the section about the writing group that Sudhir set up for young women. To hear some of the stories and what these women do to survive was incredible. I could be incredibly naive, but the chapter about the Police was pretty shocking too.

I thought this was a wonderful book. Recommended.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Read it in Freakanomics
Anyone who has ever watched The Wire : Complete HBO Season 1 [DVD] will recognise the street scenes described in Gang Leader for a Day - just swap Baltimore for Chicago. Read more

Published 2 months ago by susie

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I find it difficult to believe that someone involved in a masters program in sociology could have such a shallow and unworldly view of the people he is researching or should that... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Woodjay

1.0 out of 5 stars An extremely naive book
I was disappointed with this book, it wasn't even as good as Freakonomics. Sudhir comes across as extremely naive both on entering the projects and even after spending time with... Read more

Published 12 months ago by darrelljon

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Account of Life in the Chicago Projects
Like many others, I found the chapter of Freakonomics based on Venkatesh's data on drug dealing to be the most compelling of the book. Read more

Published 12 months ago by A. Ross

5.0 out of 5 stars Sociology Never Seemed So Utterly Compelling
I came across this book through a radio interview with its author. He came across well and the people on the programme couldn't praise it highly enough. Read more

Published 14 months ago by pjr

4.0 out of 5 stars Two sittings
I read this in two sittings. Need I say more! An excellent insight into life in the projects - and a compelling read too.

Published 14 months ago by Dillinger

5.0 out of 5 stars Genuinely astonishing
One of those books that manages to change the way you see the world around you. Not to be missed.

Published 15 months ago by Bamber

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