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30th out of 45 books
—
8 voters
Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City
Inner-city black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence; in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. How you dress, talk, and behave can have life-or-death consequences, with young people particularly at risk.
The most powerful force counteracting this code and its reign of terror is the strong,...more
The most powerful force counteracting this code and its reign of terror is the strong,...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
September 17th 2000
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published May 31st 1999)
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The first three chapters of this book basically make Anderson's point, that there is a different moral/ethical code for the "decent" families in the inner city black community and the "street" families. He then spends the rest of the book drawing out the implications for childhood preganancy, grandmothers, and fathers. In the last two chapters Anderson leaves the objective pose of the sociologist and tells the stories of two young men with whom he got personally involved in the course of his "re...more
My first impression of Elijah Anderson's Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City was of disbelief. I thought, based on the Introduction, Anderson was attempting to state that race = class = personality. Therefore, White = Money = Friendly Neighborhood and Black = Poor = Violent Neighborhood.
Anderson breaks down his Introduction within the next four chapters. I come to the conclusion that Anderson meant race can have an influencing factor of a person's persona...more
Anderson breaks down his Introduction within the next four chapters. I come to the conclusion that Anderson meant race can have an influencing factor of a person's persona...more
Anderson’s book is an interesting, enthralling look at life in inner-city Philadelphia. His ethnographic portraits of how individuals navigate life in an extremely poor, all African American neighborhood are important, powerful, and add to our understanding of inner-city experiences and the legacy of slavery and the ongoing existence of racism and racial segregation.
However, the book has a few problems, most of which revolve around gender and Anderson’s attention to it.
“Code of the Street” is...more
However, the book has a few problems, most of which revolve around gender and Anderson’s attention to it.
“Code of the Street” is...more
yeah. Not so much. I have many problems with this book. First off, it is very clearly written by a middle-aged man. This man has very specific ideas of gender rolls and the place of "decency" and "family values" in a community and any different or modern ideas of these things are not considered. His opinions (which are largely unfounded) on teen pregnancy and welfare are vague, absurd and apparently based on common rumors spread by young males in the neighborhood. They lack even a basic understa...more
2 likes · like · see review
Sep 18, 2008
Kenneth E. Harrison, Jr.
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
cultural-studies-and-social-critics
Sociologists aren't always the best writers, but I found Elijah Anderson's ethnographic study of American inner cities (specifically, African American low income neighborhoods) provocative and, at times, insightful. While celebrities such as Bill Cosby emphasize the breakdown of traditional families as the primary cause of violence and alienation, Anderson looks deeper into the systemic problems of capitalism and racism to raise questions and offer possible solutions in confronting the devastati...more
Anderson's ethnographic portrayal of urban life in (black) America through a journey down Philadelphia's historic Germantown Avenue, which connects the civility of nearly suburban Chestnut Hill and Philly's Mainline with the generally less civil society of Germantown proper and its outlying ghettos, where a Code of the Street old as poverty and oppression itself dominates the interactions of both willing and unwilling participants.
The Gangstarr song of the same name shows a greater passion for inventive expression.
This book is good. I wish it had more stories, and less analysis. It's conclusions do not seem deep to me, but then I invest a good amount of mental energy thinking about the questions that this book attempts to answer. If you don't understand the code of the streets, this would be a good way to learn. Them buls ain't playin.
This book is good. I wish it had more stories, and less analysis. It's conclusions do not seem deep to me, but then I invest a good amount of mental energy thinking about the questions that this book attempts to answer. If you don't understand the code of the streets, this would be a good way to learn. Them buls ain't playin.
Elijah Anderson does an excellent job profiling the norms and street life in one urban neighborhood. This is a transformative book, in that, if you have never survived the streets of a violent, drug-infested, crime-ridden city, you will learn so much from Anderson's portrayal, where he transports you to the streets. An excellent ethnography, Anderson's writing style helps make this book a pleasure to read.
I had to read this for a sociology class. It was a somewhat interesting read overall but extremely repetitive. Each "novel" insight was mentioned at least 30 times throughout. I don't know how many times Anderson shared the observation of clothing as a status symbol out on "the streets".
The individual life accounts were a nice change of pace.
My suggestion:
Read the first few chapters and you'll get the gist of the whole thing. Actually just read the introduction.
The individual life accounts were a nice change of pace.
My suggestion:
Read the first few chapters and you'll get the gist of the whole thing. Actually just read the introduction.
Anyone who has experienced low socio-economic, inner-city culture should read this book! Some of it was new information. Most of it was not. But it put together a framework for understanding what I already knew in a different light. By doing so it answered a lot of questions I had that were left over from my previous experiences living in this culture for short periods of time. It's not a difficult read, it's entertaining, and very informative - well worth your time!
This is a very good text, but I thought Anderson would have done better by providing a comparison between the moral code of inner city youth and another moral code. After reading this, I did have to be careful not to treat the findings as a basis for interacting with people whom I worked with that came from the inner city of Philadelphia.
In this ethnographic study of North Philadelphia "street culture" Anderson reproduces many of the myths about a self destructive black, urban "underclass." While he avoids outright victim blaming, by accepting the - then common - "culture of poverty" narrative, Anderson locates the root of urban poverty and its byproducts not in the fundamental economic and political inequality created and perpetuated by capitalism but in black "pathology". Further, Anderson's own moral predispositions permeate...more
A little dated now but a decent look into the world of the inner city for Black Americans. Based on a trip down Germantown Avenue into Philly from the burbs, it describes the subtle and not so subtle changes one encounters on the way, as the city gets grittier and grittier.
Besides being a little outdated this book is excellent. Anderson exegeses of inner city black culture is outstanding and very helpful to anyone interesting in urban work.
I didn't get this book, it just felt like a whole lot of generalizations. Ostensibly he did research, but he doesn't use a lot of examples to back up what he's saying.
A very readable ethnographic account of life in some of the worst inner-city neighborhoods in Philadelphia--kind of an academic counterpart to David Simon's The Corner. The book is ten years old now so some of the details feel a bit dated but the dilemmas it describes are still relevant and the problems have yet to be solved.
Awesome book that will P off many who would rather have a PC explanation of what goes on and causes problems in poor neighborhoods.
I think I probably would have appreciated this book more had I read it when it was first published. Things have changed since 1999, not necessarily for the best or worst, but have changed none the less. It still made me realize no matter how many books I read on the subject of inner city living I will never understand it or know the whole story because I don't live it.
Unpacks the dynamic of innercity life. Read it for the Oregon Extension program in college, and it's stayed with me.
If you want a view of inner city life from an anthropologist, this is a good book. Otherwise, meh.
1 like · like · see review
4 stars for the topic, the examples, and the information
2 stars for how poorly it was written
2 stars for how poorly it was written
I work in the criminal justice system in Philadelphia and have great respect for Elijah Anderson's perspective. His accounts and explanations are as real as it gets. Anyone who works with poverty stricken, at-risk populations in urban areas should be aware of Anderson's work. This book gets a bit wordy at times but the underlying message is clear. We need to do more to educate and train these individuals for legitimate professions. Otherwise we are going to continue, unsuccessfully, attempting t...more
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clear and honest
.
Amazing!
everyone who has ever had contact with someone living in extreme poverty needs to read this book.
This was well-hyped, and I was hoping Anderson would erase my doubts as to the integrity of ethnography as a science. He instead offers a moving portrayal of strained life in inner-city poverty, but there are too many inferences about the causes and too little evidence. I believe he loses his objectivity given the emotionally-rife subject matter. I wanted to be with him on this, I did, and still endorse this as a highly worthwhile read for his many personal insights.
Best ethnography of American urban poverty that I've been exposed to. Acknowledges the complex combinations of individual choices and social systems that lead people to get stuck in or make their way out of poverty. States the facts and leaves the value assessments to the reader. The intention was to explain the presence of drugs and violence, so it was a little light on the positive elements of this culture.
I was hoping to learn something from this scholarly approach, but I ended up skimming the more academic parts and just read the true stories featured throughout the book. The author/researcher commitment to his subject is admirable. He spent quite a bit of time on the streets of Philadelphia, but I didn't find his conclusions very shocking or new.
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Elijah Anderson holds the William K. Lanman, Jr. Professorship in Sociology at Yale University, where he teaches and directs the Urban Ethnography Project. His most prominent works include The Cosmopolitan Canopy and the award-winning books Code of the Street and Streetwise. His writings have also appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and The New York Times Book Review. He lives in New Ha...more
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Jun 30, 2009 07:53pm
I have only begun but he is a great...more
Jul 01, 2009 04:23am