#gangleaderforaday

After several years of meaning to read this author’s work, I was quite blue after completing Gang Leader for a Day. A literal page-turner: I could hardly put down this true study of not only public policy gone awry, but of friendship that crosses more than physical thresholds. #gangleaderforaday #chicago #chicagohousingauthority #sudhirvenkatesh #bookreview #roberttaylorhomes #sociology https://www.instagram.com/p/BuuelXIB6Vb2JtD7svpcRWCTKbgWRldXO_4VDw0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1j6jhkv52kp9z

After several years of meaning to read this author’s work, I was quite blue after completing Gang Leader for a Day. A literal page-turner: I could hardly put down this true study of not only public policy gone awry, but of friendship that crosses more than physical thresholds. #gangleaderforaday #chicago #chicagohousingauthority #sudhirvenkatesh #bookreview https://www.instagram.com/p/BuuelXIB6Vb2JtD7svpcRWCTKbgWRldXO_4VDw0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=v737pmcpqdkb

What does it mean to inhabit a life and a world that’s not our own? Can we ever truly understand what it means to be someone else? These books (by two of the most gifted sociologists of our time) document years (more like decades) of living with people on the margins of society; combining empathy and trust with rigorous immersive research. Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond studies homelessness - what makes people lose a home; what keeps them without one and how it is almost inevitable that one keeps slipping back into homelessness even after periodic attempts to get out - while living in trailer parks in Milwaukee. Sudhir Venkatesh (formerly professor in Columbia University and now works for Facebook research) drifted as a student conducting a survey in a ghetto and then spent a decade with the notorious Black Kings drug gang - documenting power struggles, economic principles and how sub-cultures survive. These could be must-reads only for how relevant these issues are; but read them instead to feel awed, almost humbled by the commitment these two researchers demonstrate; and because they write exceptionally well. #evicted #gangleaderforaday #books #bookstagram #homelessness #drugs #evictions #matthewdesmond #sudhirvenkatesh https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm5rOoBnaim/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ochlflg184fq