Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood

by Jay MacLeod, Joe R Feagin (Introduction)

With the original 1987 publication of Ain't No Makin' It Jay MacLeod brought us to the Clarendon Heights housing project where we met the "Brothers" and "Hallway Hangers." Their story of poverty, race, and defeatism moved readers and challenged ethnic stereotypes. MacLeod's return eight years later, and the resulting 1995 revision, revealed little improvement in the lives of these men as they struggled in the labor market and crime-ridden underground economy. This classic ethnography addresses one of the most important issues in modern social theory and how social inequality is reproduced from one generation to the next. Now republished with a preface by Joe Feagin, Ain't No Makin' It remains an admired and invaluable text.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Education, School, Race, Social Justice, Grad School

344 pages, Paperback

Published August 6, 2004

About the author

A Rhodes scholar, Jay MacLeod holds degrees in social studies and theology. He and his wife, Sally Asher, spent four years in Mississippi, where their work with local teenagers led to the publication of Minds Stayed On Freedom: The Civil Rights Struggle In The Rural South, An Oral History.

MacLeod is now an Anglican priest in Chesterfield, a declining mining and market town in Asher's native England. Combining Christian ministry with community work, MacLeod still plays streetball, or tries to. His working-class parish is one of the most ethnically diverse square miles in Britain, and MacLeod works closely with members of the local mosques to engage disaffected teenagers and to foster friendships across the lines of race and religion.

Reviews

[Clif · Rating 4 out of 5]

So you think you are an individual, self-sufficient, a rational decision maker, responsible for where you are in life? It is a comfortable idea for the successful, to be able to take a nice warm shower in your own self-image, but it's hell for those at the bottom. Far from the conservative image of deadbeats who look for a free ride on the backs of hard-working people, this book shows how the poor share the idea of personal responsibility and beat themselves up mercilessly for their plight. From top to bottom, the capitalist idea of individual agency is so strongly held it is blinding and this is Jay MacLeod's lament.

MacLeod dearly wants class to be recognized, that what we become in life is very much dependent on where we happen to be born in the social hierarchy; that class makes all the difference to how we turn out, no matter how much effort we make. He points to generations that sit stuck in poverty. Surely it is the environment that is largely determining their fate, killing their chances of a decent life before youth reach adulthood.

MacLeod says the idea that you are your own result encourages people to put up with gross inequality of wealth; if only I had tried harder I could be rich too! This keeps those at the bottom punishing themselves for failure instead of going after the unjust system the keeps them down. MacLeod realizes this is largely but not entirely a myth; an American religion. The faithful include the subjects of MacLeod's study, two groups of lower class males, one largely made up of whites and the other of blacks that, at the beginning are in their mid teens and by the end are in their late 30's.

MacLeod yearns for these young men to wake up and see the nature of the oppression they are under - to see the class stratification that would provoke them to become active politically to change things in a socialist direction. Despite an occasional class insight, they are overwhelmingly convinced they are to blame for their plight (or success).

Great credit must go to the author because, despite his agenda, he puts it aside and lets the guys speak for themselves. The questions he asks them are wide open. The result is a fascinating study of the underclass way of life. It's enthralling.

In a turnabout, and I confess I had the feeling I was being set up for a big point to be scored about race - it is the group of black males who have the greater sense of doing well by behaving in school and going for the educational ring that is said to offer success. MacLeod speculates that these boys, "The Brothers", who become men in the book, believe that civil rights advances have truly opened a door that they need to use. They try to live according to the American myth.

The mostly white group, the "Hallway Hangers", are rowdies of the most extreme kind. Look at one wrong and he will put out your lights. Drugs, drinking, a fight from time to time, fathers nowhere to be found, they live for the moment and continually fail in school, end up in prison, move from being fired at one dead-end job to being fired at another.

MacLeod lets each life story play out fully. With a couple of exceptions, all the males of both groups end up as he would predict - not breaking out of the lowest class, even if they do escape the 'hood, struggling near the bottom. Almost all of them do survive drug and alcohol dependency after change is forced on them by the influence of a woman, of a child of their own, or simply age.

So what can we as a society do about this situation that reproduces people who must struggle to survive, while heaping wealth on those who already have it? How can there possibly be equal opportunity for every child when there is the original injustice of birth being a chance thing - heads you're in a middle or upper class family, tails you're in squalor.

MacLeod looks to socialism, but I think the trouble is more basic and only band-aids are possible. The progressive income tax is one, early childhood education is another, but these will not bring a cure. The root of the problem is modern civilization. Neither capitalism or socialism or communism addresses the root of the illness.

The root cause is the loss of individual/social bonding.

I don't believe that modern society is the peak of human civilization. That peak was reached by tribal peoples, best exemplified by native-Americans as they were found by Europeans on the Great Plains. These tribal groups had survived with little change for thousands of years and the coming of the horse brought them to their peak, just before their complete destruction.

What puts them at the top of civilization in my thinking is the value placed by the tribe on every single individual within it. Was this person homosexual? So what, there was a place for him/her and respect went with it. Was that person aggressive? There was a place in limited inter-tribal warfare for such a temperament, again with respect going with it. Did someone hallucinate? Then surely that person was in touch with the unknown and could be valued. Could drugs be used? Yes, and it would bring visions of value.

What about the natural environment? There was no dividing line. Animals were persons to be respected, learned from, used for food as needed with an apology for the killing. The sky at night, the wind, the clouds, the rain, all had a message.

And this or that tribe of 100 people, usually less, were thus tightly bound through respect. Nobody was rejected for peculiarities or appearance and as a result each individual felt psychologically at home and deeply responsible to others.

Tribes endlessly skirmished, honor was important. But rage was directed and contained. People died but how many in comparison to those who die today in the chaos of Syria or too many places in Africa?

The problem of modernity is the fit of the individual to society is lost and must be built from scratch with each child born. We can't go back - tribal societies lived with myths that are completely exploded now. Talking of spirits and mother earth etc. is simply silly. It worked when it was deeply felt, but now it's all make-believe and each of us can choose the fairy tale we prefer. Awe and grandeur are not easy to feel when your sibling or neighbor is laughing about your chosen myth. Deeply religious folk are right to be worried about the future, but there is no stopping it.

The price paid for modernity is beautifully documented in "Ain't No Makin' It", which is of minds twisting and turning to adapt to a society of others who are equally floundering, in an environment from which no sense can be made and where sensual escapes (drugs) are self-destructive because they occur within a vacuum of meaning.

The human psyche created very serviceable, flexible, sometimes frightening but ultimately comforting mythologies over the millennia to fit human thought to the material world. Rational scientific thought, a glory in itself, has gutted them all. Continual anxiety about one's place in the world is the price we pay to know objective reality. To make a play on the title of this book - regarding the humanist society that's gone: there ain't no re-makin it.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations & Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood was an assignment for my Foundations of Sociology and Culture class. It's an ethnographic study of two groups of teenage boys living in a housing project in New Hampshire in the 1980s and 90s.

It's interesting, if depressing, material. One group of boys, primarily white, is cynical about their futures and spends most of the time hanging out in a hallway, drinking and smoking weed and crack. The other group, primarily black, believes in the popularly accepted achievement ideology that says that you can do and be anything as long as you work hard enough at it, and thus they work hard in school and generally refrain from smoking and drinking.

The early chapters focus on these boys in the mid-80s and discusses their expectations and aspirations. The later chapters take place eight years later, when MacLeod returns to the project to find out how the boys had fared. Most of them - regardless of which group they hung out with in high school - are struggling to hold down jobs at all, or are working for barely more than minimum wage. Many struggle with serious drug addictions and several are often in jail. Only a couple could be considered to have "succeeded" in any way, and still their successes seem paltry compared to most of middle-class America. Nearly all of them have remained in or near the housing project they grew up in.

MacLeod's research suggests that class structure in America is much more of a determining factor in one's life than most of America is willing to admits. Although "rags to riches" transformations are possible in American society, they are rare and rely as much on chance as on effort. Furthermore, the fact that these "rags to riches" transformations ever take place allows the rest of America to deny that class structure in this country is a problem that is not getting any better.

So, yes, interesting but bleak. MacLeod does a good job of emphasizing the boys' humanity and individuality in painting their dreams and aspirations, making it clear that simple stereotypes of poverty cannot even begin to describe the people who actually live it. He's also honest about his shortcomings as an ethnographer. Overall it was a very worthwhile book to read.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While watching an episode of Dear White People on Netflix, the term epigenetics was mentioned and it made me reflect on the nature of such a term in education. I think the MacLeod is about as close to an author, as I have found so far, who touches on the subject in a meaningfully candid way that isn't overly burdened by theory (and yet there is still enough of it in this work).

While often repetitive at times, MacLeod does an excellent job of making a complex topic like reproductive theory-- social and cultural capital--as simple as possible. He is a clear and descriptive writer, who does well to break down theory into very consumable pieces and tells the story of the Brothers and the Hallway Hangers in such a way that the reader is able to come to see both the structural challenges these young men are dealing with as well as the individual obstacles they must overcome as well. I suggest this book for anyone going into sociology, education, or, really, any field.

MacLeod provides a thorough account of the aspirations and expectations of two male peer groups residing in a public housing project. Both peer groups, although originating from similar class locations, have distinct aspirations resulting from their racial lived experiences. The peer group consisting mostly of young black men (The Brothers) supported the achievement ideology that we live in an open society. They viewed the hardships faced by previous generations was a result of racial discrimination barriers that (theoretically) cease to exist. They applied themselves in socially acceptable practices such as excelling in school and keeping out of trouble. In contrast, the peer group consisting of mostly young white men (Hallway Hangers) rejected the achievement ideology and had low aspirations of their position in the labor market. They realized through family and friends that their chances of getting out of the projects is slim leading most of the Hallway Hangers dropped out of school and smoked dope, among other illegal activities. Despite the disjuncture of both groups' levels of aspirations, both failed to get out of poverty. MacLeod hung out with both of these male peer groups in an effort to understand their daily meanings of the role of education and their future aspirations rather than relying exclusively on statistical data.

I give this book four stars because MacLeod failed to take into consideration the aspirations and expectations of young women. Instead he concentrated solely on the role of race and class. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand how societal structures restrict and limit the actions of individuals. Furthermore this book challenges the myth that education creates a level playing field for all regardless of race or class (and gender too ~ although not addressed here).

The author does have his own biases, but he never draws conclusions that aren't supported by the evidence. And the evidence is overwhelming: it usually takes more than a 'good attitude' or a 'strong work ethic' to get ahead in America. It also takes many of the substantive and symbolic resources that middle-class children take for granted, yet middle-class parents are careful to pass down to them. Meanwhile, the mistakes and poor choices that middle-class youth easily overcome can be devastating for poor youth, starting a downward spiral from which it is very difficult to recover. Lastly, this book describes in vivid detail what all the statistics report: that, on average, poor black children have more ambition than poor white children. It isn't for lack of *wanting* the American dream of a middle-class life and a willingness to play by the rules; it's the lack of other things which MacLeod discusses: inside connections to good jobs, mentoring and sponsorship, and frankly, in some cases the 'right' skin color. Yes, racism is alive and well among U.S. employers, especially those hiring entry-level employees in major metro areas. Ironically, the 'Brothers' refuse to see this racism as an obstacle, choosing instead to blame themselves for their failings -- thus we cannot explain their disappointing outcomes in terms of a 'victim mentality.' Meanwhile, the white 'Hallway Hangers' frequently resort to racist explanations for their own inability to get or keep a job. It's the white subjects who claim racial victimhood, not the black ones.

This book isn't a 'liberal' book, even though its author's own political agenda is identifiable as such. He doesn't pull any punches; he holds his subjects accountable for their actions, whether positive or negative. Yet he does so with gracious humanity, possibly because of his calling as a minister of the gospel. I wish that every conservative would read this book, and could do so with an open mind. How often do we speak of people we know so little about? At the same time, I wish that every liberal would read it, too, and acknowledge that capitalism has a vital role to play in developing poor people's lives and communities. Although the author didn't emphasize its significance, I took note of the fact that the real standouts in the book are both successful as self-employed entrepreneurs. Liberals should welcome business education and entrepreneurship as a more effective and efficient path out of poverty than any number of government programs. Poor people -- especially poor men -- need more steady well-paying jobs, to be sure, but we need to stop thinking of them exclusively or even primarily as job-holders and start seeing them also as job-creators.

[Olivia Haynie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. Really well done study. Both important and interesting, although a bit depressing. But very insightful and worth the long read.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually the author's thesis, repackaged and updated, largely consisting of interviews with disaffected youth in a particular inner-city housing project. What he finds are two groups in the project - the "Hallway Hangers", white, drug-using, school-skipping miscreants, and the "Brothers", black, hard-studying, 'good kids'. MacLeod is interested in their "leveled ambitions" - meaning that the way these boys temper their dreams to their reality. The most ambitious dream among the Hallway Hangers is to own a pizza shop. The Brothers have higher dreams, but even these are tempered. One says he wants to be a doctor, and then, being ridiculed for this in the group interview, amends himself down to computer technician.

The book looks at the forces that cause these boys not to aim higher. One factor the boys mention themselves is that even if they do well in school, they won't get a good job. This sad opinion bears out - at the end of the book, our author returns to the neighborhood a few years later to find that the studious high-school graduates of the "Brothers" clique hold no better jobs than the drop-out "Hangers".

It's sad reality in all its glorious detail. You get to follow the stories of several youths as they struggle to define themselves, keep their self-worth, and steadily re-assess their chances. Juan wants to be a cook, takes a special vocational education cooking course in high school, ends up looking for work as a mechanic and then, when that fails, ends up at McDonald's. That's the kind of story they all have. Not a read for when you're in a depressed mood.

Interspersed with the excerpts of interviews is a lot of theory on the subject, since this is an academic work, and a discussion of field methods in sociology.

[Crystal Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I respect MacLeod's ethnographic study which followed a group of young white and black men in a housing project in New Hampshire in the 80s. He did a great job of applying Bourdieu's social reproduction theory to the everyday lives of the young men and even during his 8 year follow up after the initial study. Although I have serious issues with the fact that he did not reveal that he was doing research on the young men until a year into his study, I can understand why he might have believed this was his only wan "in." I think some of his analysis of the young black men had severe limitations, especially with regard to the achievement ideology. I feel that because of this book's high success, he could have shared some of his earnings with the subjects which he failed to do, while boasting that he still feels like a "good person" because he sold his Chevy Impala to one of the boys eight years later. That kind of entitlement and exploitation of subjects for your own research gains disgusted me. Yet still, I think anyone interested in ethnography can learn a lot from this text. Lastly, I thought he did a good job of problematizing the impact of race, class and gender on academic success and social mobility.

[Miss Night · Rating 3 out of 5]

An academic dissertation: interesting from a clinical perspective, but not necessarily engaging on an emotional level.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the concluding field notes section, MacLeod mentions struggles with organization. That surprised me, because this is superbly organized. Information was easy to follow, and every time I began to wonder about certain aspects the questions were either answered or it was mentioned that it would be treated in a later chapter. That shows not just thoroughness but a natural flow. His notes are a reminder that this does not happen automatically.

Even though the work is decades old, it is still relevant. Racism still functions as a way of helping the white lower class misplace blame. Achievement ideology has only become more toxic. It is important to see how buying into it may delay some pain, but not indefinitely.

It is also important to see that while the rejection of a belief in opportunity by the Hallway Hangers isn't the answer either. They do get some boost in self-esteem and friendship, but the esteem still has too many other attackers, and the pervasive alcoholism and drug use in these teenagers is very disturbing. You can argue that misery outside of jail is better than misery with frequent stops in jail, but neither is a great option.

The number of layoffs mentioned indicates a poor job market at the time, but it is also clear that the lack of value of the boys as individuals - especially based on social class and place of residence - made things worse. Even with good intentions the schools enforced that.

35 years later we still need to do better.

[Rolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vitally important ethnography whose primary thesis (social inequality is structurally reproduced across generations) might read as obvious in 2025, but was a critical counterpoint at the time to Reaganite bootstraps rhetoric. I am very familiar with many of the influences on this work from my time in graduate school (Bowles and Gintis, Paul Willis, Pierre Bourdieu), but before now had never read this book. I’m very glad I did.

Impressively, this is also one of the rare ethnographies (like Margaret Mead’s work) that had a general, non-academic audience. I also loved how broad the scope was--the later editions follow up with the same people decades later, which is extremely rare in this kind of work.

Definitely worth a read.

[Jordan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firmly a book to be placed in the edifying reads category. A bit dense but interesting for sure. Had to read it for a sociology class on wealth, power, and inequality. Focusing on class as the primary lens through which life outcomes are studied, this is a book following the lives of 2 groups of boys from a public housing neighborhood called Clarendon Heights throughout high school and a good portion of their adult lives. Explores social reproduction theory, different types of cultural capital and what is and isn't rewarded. The social factors that impact class status and things of that nature.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book as an undergrad and at the time felt that it was an important and eye-opening work. Reading it again over 10 years later, I'm blown away that the author wrote this as an undergrad himself! I don't recall putting myself in his shoes with the first reading, but with age comes perspective; and this body of work is truly impressive. Moreover, its reporting of facts, and thoughtful analysis, is refreshingly nonpartisan, making this work a rarity in modern times and a true gem. Only reads like a textbook maybe 10% of the time.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a sobering look at who makes it out of the hood, how and what challenges are faced along the way. This 25 year ethnographic study of a group of young men living in public housing in Massachusetts, black and white, confirms that meritocracy is, indeed, a myth. Cultural capital, social capital and linguistic capital impacts the experiences and trajectories of us all and much more than many of us would like to admit or believe. It is a long read, but well worth it.

[Runan Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

McLeod cultivated a longitudinal study into social reproduction theories by examining two distinct groups of teenagers in a low-income community in the United States, focusing on their aspirations and expectations in Part 1 and their respective socioeconomic outcomes in Parts 2 and 3.

I think the author conducted a well-organized project and presented his findings and conclusions concisely and succinctly.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent sociological ethnography into the aspirations of two groups of youth in a project. Those who have bought into the American dream ideology, and those who haven't, and how the opportunities for both groups are limited. The case study itself gives one a rich textured vision, almost voyeuristic of their lives. He uses theories of social reproduction as his lens.

[Stephanie Bortmas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was required reading for a course I’m taking. I thought it was a good piece of research and brought up many important topics that we unintentionally or blatantly overlook in education. Some parts were hard to listen to but overall it was thought provoking and a beat resource for anyone interested in equity in education and society at large

[Christopher Kitchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book highlights issues regarding social class in America through a longitudinal study. MacLeod returns back to the same groups of people over the span of tens of years, highlighting the struggles of social mobility in minorities. Very good read — informative and important.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking! Read parts one and two for class.

[Alice Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting case study of social reproduction and social stratification theories. The analytical aspect felt a little too weak though.

[katie ♡]

read this for my class 😁 i actually thought it was pretty good so id recommend.

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of my deep dive into social reproduction theory this fall, this book paired well with Literacy with an Attitude to explore factors that constrain opportunities for low-income youth. McLeod does a great job of examining how individual aspirations and choices interact with a broader opportunity structure in the process of social reproduction.

[Fajar Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book has taught me everything there is to know about ethnography. The fact that The Brothers -- predominantly black teenager -- are more positive towards America's achievement ideology is baffling, thus as a non American reader made me curiously followed subsequent pages to know what happen to them in the future (job-related life, changed perceptions, etc). Their counterparts, on the contrary, Hallway Hangers (whom Macleod compared to Paul Willis' lads), were had realised from their early age that the achievement ideology was mere a sugar coated propaganda for the poor by the regime. They understood that the only way to make ends meet is to do an informal, and sometimes, illegal works such as drug dealing, theft, etc. While the Hallway Hangers were negative from beginning, the Brothers members were passionately active in school and perceived that the key to success in life was determined by their educational progress (some of them even foolishly set the future to become a lawyer or computer programmer).

This book focused on said teenagers aspiration/perception on three structural basis: schooling, family, and economy/work. Those recorded aspirations were being analysed and compared to other works and Macleod won't bore you with too conflicting ideas/theories. Macleod's way to probe their aspirations is tragically funny, or funnily tragic. For example, when he came back to one of the teenagers for an interview, the now adult interviewee said that Macleod did this as he ran out money so he'd need to write an expanded edition. He'd spent his time with them as a social worker so his status was relatively close to them, and made the dangerous environment (high criminal rate) friendly. Started as undergraduate work in Reagan-era America, this expanded edition (that span in three decades!) is a fundamental study of urban poor and theory of social reproduction. Surprisingly and sadly, the naivety of these young men's perception on social class, social inequality, and neoliberal agenda couldn't be more relevant these days.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading studies that follow-up with their subjects years later. This book follows two groups of high school boys living in a project in the 1980’s and applies sociological theories to their views on life and possible life outcomes. The author follows up with each boy eight years later and discusses possible reasons for their life outcomes to that point. I’d say its predictable, but also not so much. Is life what you make of it or what society makes of you?

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good book, especially for the sociologically-inclined but pretty depressing. Very eye-opening in terms of understanding the lower class and aspiration formation. Amazing the first half was his senior thesis--i suck.

Favorite quote (from Frankie, the leader of the Hallway Hangers): I grew up thinking I was a bad fucking kid....I look back there—there aren’t any bad kids—there’s a lotta kids that just had a f*cking tough life (255).

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably one of the best books I've ever read about sociological concepts. There are two groups of ideologically composed kids whose lives and thoughts are analyzed as they live and grow older. It seems like a lot at first glance but it's an easy read. Most of the text is composed of interviews of the different boys, and their views on the present and future. It got me emotionally at one point, and that doesn't happen very often. Powerful stuff!

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read parts of this book for a class I was taking on social class. Parts of this book were incredibly interesting but where it goes wrong is that it was incredibly repetitive. Despite my frustration with reading so many things just said in slightly different ways multiple times throughout the three parts, I did find the study interesting so I did go and read the two chapters I didn't have to read for class.

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gloomy, depressing book all about how poor kids in bad schools are screwed from the very beginning, and how the system is set up to keep them poor and unsuccessful because of the way discipline, rewards and expectations are structured in our schools, and because of the lack of support from outside school that prevents kids from having much chance at doing well in school or after they leave school.

[Keena · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Our occupational structure is shaped much like the Eiffel Tower. There is little room at the top, a larger but still limited number of tolerably well-paid positions in the middle, and near the bottom a wide band of inferior positions (with no "positions" at all for the unemployed). This roughly pyramidal structure ensures that even if everyone excels in school and strives ceaselessly for the top, the great majority are automatically bound to be disappointed."

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting qualitative sociological study about kids growing up in the ghetto, and how their lack of "cultural capital" seriosuly limits their ability to succeed. This book challenges the "achievement ideology" (the idea that in america, ANYONE can be successful & wealthy if they just try hard enough). Interesting read.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important ethnographic look into the way social inequality is reproduced from generation to generation. More than a sociological text, however, MacLeod's look into the lives of two groups of children in a Massachusetts housing project is deeply personal as well, adding a much more human touch to the often overly deterministic theories of social reproduction.

[Sage Αναστασία · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love MacLeod's work in Ain't No Makin' It so much that I based my undergraduate thesis off of it. MacLeod executes ethnographic research better than any other scholar whose work I've read, and he highlights how social position affects individuals very well. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the social sciences.