I ask you: who just walks into the projects?

Well, evidently, Sudhir Venkatesh does.

His latest book, Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets, is so fascinating that I'll forgive him for having a foreword by Stephen Dubner, co-author of the book Freakonomics (I was not a fan of that title, largely due to their half-ass research).  Reading it is like being dumped in a whole other world, with no escape and no recourse (an experience which is echoed by the experiences of the residents of the Chicago inner-city housing projects that Venkatesh explored).

The first night he walks into the Robert Taylor Homes (with sociological surveys that included the question: "How does it feel to be black and poor?") he meets J.T., a leader in the Black Kings gang, who becomes largely responsible for letting Venkatesh trail around with him, and, years after they first meet, actually function as "gang leader for a day."  By that point in the narrative I'd actually grown a little tired of the author's voice--let's just say I don't think he's an unconfident man--but up until then the story is fascinating.  Venkatesh not only got to know gang members, he got to know their families and the other residents, which is the part I enjoyed the most.  Reading about how power runs through certain people, always in exchange for money, actually made me feel like urban Chicago was pretty much the same as anywhere else.  Except, of course, for the fact that no one who lives in the projects would call the police or an ambulance, simply because they would never come.

Venkatesh is also the author of the more scholarly but still really, really interesting books Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor and American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto.

It's a fascinating book.  Not quite as heartbreaking as Adrian Nicole LeBlanc's Random Family (set in the Bronx), but a very valuable read nonetheless.

Comments

[CPT]

I don't know if you've been watching The Wire or not (if you're not, you should!), but Venkatesh did some very funny/intriguing blog post reviews of season five. He watched with some of the 'retired' gang members and they gave their views on how realistically The Wire handled things. Great stuff if you've watched the episodes.

[katharine]

I am reading this right now and really enjoying it. He seems SO naive about some things though, I am wondering if he is being truthful. And he is always talking about drinking beers with his "subjects" is that academically kosher? Sign me up for sociology class...Regardless it is very eye-opening for this small town South Dakota girl.

[CitizenReader]

CPT,
I've heard about The Wire but have never seen it. I'll have to add it to my list at the library--do we own it? Now I'll have to go check out his blog postings too. Thanks for the tip!

Katharine,
Yes, I wondered about that too. I couldn't decide if he was naive or just completely not scared because he himself is a big guy. I wonder sometimes how much knowledge comes out of being scared and therefore trying to be hyper-aware of your surroundings.

There's lots of things in the book that I wondered about being kosher--not only academically but in general. I wonder how much stuff he got into that he DIDN'T write about...