The author immersed himself in the teenage underworld of Clarendon Heights. The Hallway Hangers, one of the
neighborhood cliques, appear as cynical self-destructive hoodlums. The other group, the Brothers, take the American
Dream to heart and aspire to middle-class respectability. The twist is that the Hallway Hangers are mostly white;
the Brothers are almost all black. Comparing the two groups, MacLeod provides a provocative account of how poverty
is perpetuated from one generation to the next. This edition retains the vivid accounts of friendships, families,
school, and work that made the first edition so popular. The ethnography resonates with feeling and vivid dialogue.
But the book also addressed one of the most important issues in modern social theory and policy: how social inequality
is reproduced from one generation to the next. MacLeod links individual lives with social theory to forge a powerful
argument about how inequality is created, sustained, and accepted in the United States.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Pt. 1 The Hallway Hangers and the Brothers as Teenagers
1 Social Immobility in the Land of Opportunity
2 Social Reproduction in Theoretical Perspective
3 Teenagers in Clarendon Heights: The Hallway Hangers and the Brothers
4 The Influence of the Family
5 The World of Work: Aspirations of the Hangers and Brothers
6 School: Preparing for the Competition
7 Leveled Aspirations: Social Reproduction Takes Its Toll
8 Reproduction Theory Reconsidered
Pt. 2 Eight Years Later: Low Income, Low Outcome
9 The Hallway Hangers: Dealing in Despair
10 The Brothers: Dreams Deferred
11 Conclusion: Outclassed and Outcast(e)
Appendix: On the Making of Ain't No Makin' It
Fieldwork: Doubts, Dilemmas, and Discoveries
Second Harvest: Notes on the 1991 Field Experience
Bibliography
About the Book and Author
Index
