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Cracks in the Pavement

Social Change and Resilience in Poor Neighborhoods

Martín Sánchez-Jankowski author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:University of California Press

Published:22nd Aug '08

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Cracks in the Pavement cover

Woven throughout with rich details of everyday life, this original, on-the-ground study of poor neighbourhoods challenges much prevailing wisdom about urban poverty, shedding new light on the people, institutions, and culture in these communities. Over the course of nearly a decade, Martin Sanchez-Jankowski immersed himself in life in neighbourhoods in New York and Los Angeles to investigate how social change and social preservation transpire among the urban poor. Looking at five community mainstays - the housing project, the small grocery store, the barbershop and the beauty salon, the gang, and the local high school - he discovered how these institutions provide a sense of order, continuity, and stability in places often thought to be chaotic, disorganized, and disheartened.His provocative and ground-breaking study provides new data on urban poverty and also advances a new theory of how poor neighbourhoods function, illuminating the creativity and resilience that characterize the lives of those who experience the hardships associated with economic deprivation.

There is much to be learned from this perceptive and thoughtful book... [An] intellectually courageous book that deserves broad attention." Beyondchron "A well-written sociological study ... completely free of academic jargon. Would appeal to the general reader as well as to an academic audience." Multicultural Review

ISBN: 9780520256750

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 30mm

Weight: 680g

504 pages