Sidewalk [Paperback]

An exceptional ethnography marked by clarity and candor,Sidewalktakes us into the socio-cultural environment of those who, though often seen as threatening or unseemly, work day after day on the blocks of one of New York's most diverse neighborhoods. Sociologist Duneier, author ofSlim's Table, offers an accessible and compelling group portrait of several poor black men who make their livelihoods on the sidewalks of Greenwich Village selling secondhand goods, panhandling, and scavenging books and magazines.

Duneier spent five years with these individuals, and inSidewalkhe argues that, contrary to the opinion of various city officials, they actually contribute significantly to the order and well-being of the Village. An important study of the heart and mind of the street,Sidewalkalso features an insightful afterword by longtime book vendor Hakim Hasan. This fascinating study reveals today's urban life in all its complexity: its vitality, its conflicts about class and race, and its surprising opportunities for empathy among strangers.

Sidewalkis an excellent supplementary text for a range of courses:

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY: Shows how to make important links between micro and macro; how a research project works; how sociology can transform common sense.

RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS:Untangles race, class, and gender as they work together on the street.

URBAN STUDIES: Asks how public space is used and contested by men and women, blacks and whites, rich and poor, and how street life and political economy interact.

DEVIANCE:Looks at labeling processes in treatment of the homeless;
interrogates the broken windows theory of policing.

LAW AND SOCIETY:Closely examines the connections between formal and informal systems of social control.

METHODS:Shows how ethnography works; includes a detailed methodological appendix and an afterword by researchlC.