Bourgois, Philippe: In Search of Respect

Walter S. DeKeseredy

Published in 1995, Philippe Bourgois's pathbreaking book In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio is still timely, given that it focuses on the destructive impact of major economic transitions in North America that are still taking place at the start of this new millennium, including alarmingly high levels of unemployment plaguing metropolitan neighborhoods. In Search of Respect also continues to assist criminologists in their ongoing attempts to develop a rich theoretical understanding of how structural determinants, such as transnational corporations moving operations to developing countries, help create criminal youth subcultures and gangs in disenfranchised inner-city communities. In addition to being theoretically important, Bourgois's book includes in-depth ethnographic data derived from 5 years spent in East Harlem (also referred to as El Barrio) observing, tape recording, and photographing various components of the lives of roughly 24 Puerto Rican crack dealers. In some ways, Bourgois's work resembles that of Oscar ...

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