General and Introduction
What is Bourgois' main argument in this book? How does he go about making it, step by step? Is it convincing? Why?/Why not?
What is "cultural capital?" How does this concept explain the experiences of people from El Barrio-in school? at work? in business? in the legal system?
How do you think Bourgois' ethnography balances "structure" and "agency?"
What are the functions of "street culture?"
How have other social scientists interpreted inner city culture? How does Bourgois disagree with them?
What does it mean to talk about a "survival-of-the-fittest,blame-the-victim theory of individual action" as a "common-sense?"
Chapter 1-Violating Apartheid in the United States
What do you think of Bourgois' fieldwork strategy as compared to Chagnon and Wolf? What were the risks? How did his "informants" categorize and view Bourgois?
What does Bourgois mean by "internalizing institutionalized violence?" How do Primo and Caesar "internalize" racism and oppression?
How do the attitudes of Primo and Caesar about drugs compare to those of mainstream America and to middle class drug users?
What is the effect of the style in which this book is written?
Chapter 2-A Street History of El Barrio
What have been the different waves of immigrants who have lived in East Harlem? How would you describe a continuity in their experiences? How have they been described by outsiders? How is the poverty of East Harlem spatially segregated from mainstream America?
What is a jíbaro? How has Puerto Rico, historically, been used by outside interests?
What were the reasons for the switch to cocaine in American inner cities and the subsequent development of crack?
What other underground products preceded and followed the 1980s crack boom? Why are "drugs" a particularly important commodity in marginalized areas?
How does "urban renewal" reinforce a violent street culture?
Chapter 3-Crackhouse Management: Addiction, Discipline, and Dignity
What are some of the tradeoffs Primo and his friends must consider about trying to enter the legal economy vs. working in the underground economy? What sorts of material and personal benefits do each provide? What about self-respect?
What was the relationship between Primo's use of crack and his employment in the crackhouse?
How much money does Primo make in the crackhouse? Why can't he and his friends save money?
What sorts of precautions do the crack dealers take? What kind of labor relations does their boss engage in? Why aren't they busted? How are their crackhouses different from the crack and ganja scenes in Jamaica?
Chapter 4-"Goin Legit": Disrespect and Resistance at Work
How does street culture's definition of "dignity" impact the experience of working in downtown offices? What are the roots of this definition?
What are some of the "structural" changes that have effected the Puerto Rican immigrants in New York? Relate these structural changes to the cultural conflicts that occur at the work place?
How did Primo and Caesar get socialized into different attitudes towards work?
What are the frustrations of their job search?
What are jobs that can give their employees self-respect, in the terms of East Harlem? Why? What are the obstacles to getting these jobs?
How do the Puerto Ricans view the newer immigrants? Whose interests are served by this arrangement and how?
Describe the "cultural conflict" that occurs in the downtown offices. What are some of its elements? How do people like Primo appear to their supervisors? Why? How does this relate to "cultural capital" and "structural oppression?" What about clothes?
How do the ways in which men and women interact in FIRE sector jobs seem inappropriate to Primo and Caesar? How have they been hurt by intercultural miscommunication?
What are the "weapons of the weak?"
How do Primo and Caesar respond differently to the assault on their dignity that occurs in office jobs? How is their retreat into the underground economy a viable adaptation to this situation?
Chapter 5-School Days: Learning to be a Better Criminal
What are the various ways and institutions in which children in El Barrio are socialized from the beginning into an underground street culture?
How do teachers unconsciously hierarchize and label their students? How do students respond to this? What were the different paths charted out from an early age for Primo, Caesar, and Eddie?
How do students adapt to the experience of violence in everyday life in the school system and in reform schools?
What was Primo taught in school? What about Caesar? Jaycee?
Why do children in El Barrio commit crimes? How do Caesar and Primo represent different attitudes toward crime?
What is the meaning of gang rape in the context of El Barrio? How do the perpetrators attempt to justify their actions? How can this be seen as part of male socialization?
How does Bourgois interpret the "Graffiti Hall of Fame?"
Chapter 6-Redrawing the Gender Line on the Street
How have gender roles and masculine and feminine identities changed for the residents of El Barrio since their parents came over from Puerto Rico? What are the structural explanations underlying those changes? How can we see these changes in the different attitudes of Ray's and Candy's generation and Primo's generation? What are the alternative "culturally-scripted" gender roles available to young men and women?
Describe the traditional small town Puerto Rican family? Was it "patriarchal?" Why did the man command respeto?
How have the structural changes in male role-the decline of the conditions for patriarchy-resulted in more male-on-female violence? Why does Bourgois think that the psychological explanations for this violence fail?
How do Primo, Caesar, and Candy each tell the story of Candy's abusive marriage using different scripts and forms of language?
How does Bourgois argue that women use the idioms of "romantic love" and "jealousy" and "ataques de nervios" to assert their independence? What are the limitations of these justifications for their actions?
After Candy shot her husband, what gender role did Candy adopt?
What kind of liberation have Puerto Rican women gained in El Barrio? What are the limits of those gains?
How does the Welfare system effect El Barrio's women and their families?
chapter 7-Families and Children in Pain
What/ is the relationship between changing gender roles as the role of women as mothers? What is happening to the family unit?
Can the hardship of El Barrio's children be adequately addressed as a problem of "family values?"
How do El Barrio attitudes towards babies and children differ from those of white middle and upper class society?
What cultural patterns were revealed during the incident of Jackie's abduction?
What are the different reasons why men and women in El Barrio want to have children?
Compare Bourgois' discussion of crack-addicted mothers to Sheper-Hughes' article "Death Without Weeping."
How does street culture define different obligations for mothers and fathers?
What roles within underground street culture are available to women?
How has "anti-drug hysteria" been used to demonize particular groups? What drives mainstream representations of crack?
Chapter 8-Vulnerable Fathers
Does Bourgois believe that two parent nuclear families are the answer to El Barrio's problems? How does the welfare system encourage women to remain in abusive relationships?
Are biological fathers considered responsible for their children? Should they? Are males considered to have the same rights and obligations regarding their children as women? Should they?
How have cultural definitions of masculinity in El Barrio changed? How does Eddie express the relationship between sexuality and oppression? Why did peasant families want large numbers of children? How was masculinity defined in Puerto Rican peasant society?
Chapter 9-Conclusion
What policy changes does Bourgois propose to deal with the problems of postindustrial America's inner cities? What are his reasons? Do you agree? Why?/Why not? Why aren't his suggestions politically feasible? What does this have to do with mainstream America's "common sense" or hegemony? How do liberal and conservative politicans differ from Bourgois?
What is the root causes of these problems? Is it drugs?
What is wrong with the "social work" approach to the problems? Why don't social workers read books like this?
What is Bourgois' approach to the "drug problem?"
What about the welfare system?