Reading: Bourgois, In Search of Respect

For each week's readings, you should complete the Ethnography Response Form and submit it as part of your fieldnotes for that week. While the form asks you general questions about an author's theoretical framework and methodology, these study guide questions are intended to help you focus your reading on the specific issues and methods used by the author and to consider both critically. These study guide questions will usually form the basis for our in-class discussions.

1. What does Bourgois mean by "inner-city street culture"? What are the behaviors and practices associated with it? Where do they come from? What are their effects? How does "inner-city street culture" differ from Lewis's idea of the culture of poverty? (Hint: In answering this last question, consider whether there's a difference between how Bourgois compares his work to Lewis's and how you compare the two.)

2. What does Bourgois mean by the statement, "Through cultural practices of opposition, individuals shape the oppression that larger forces impose upon them" (17)? How do specific examples from the book illustrate this dynamic? In what ways do structure and agency shape street culture?

3. In his introduction, Bourgois writes of his concern that his book will be interpreted as falling prey to "an ethnography of violence, or a racist voyeurism" (18). Does it? How would you navigate this dilemma?

4. What are racial and gender relations like in the "inner-city street culture" which Bourgois describes? What factors produce these relations, and what are their effects?

5. How, according to Bourgois, does focusing on the extreme elements of a group give insight into the broader issues faced by the group? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this method? Would you consider using it in your own research? How?

 

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