Synopses & Reviews
For the more than a billion people who now live in urban slums, gangs are ubiquitous features of daily life. Though still most closely associated with American cities, gangs are an entrenched, worldwide phenomenon that play a significant role in a wide range of activities, from drug dealing to extortion to religious and political violence. In A World of Gangs, John Hagedorn explores this international proliferation of the urban gang as a consequence of the ravages of globalization.
Looking closely at gang formation in three world cities-Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, and Capetown-he discovers that some gangs have institutionalized as a strategy to confront a hopeless cycle of poverty, racism, and oppression. In particular, Hagedorn reveals, the nihilistic appeal of gangsta rap and its street ethic of survival "by any means necessary" provides vital insights into the ideology and persistence of gangs around the world.
This groundbreaking work concludes on a hopeful note. Proposing ways in which gangs might be encouraged to overcome their violent tendencies, Hagedorn appeals to community leaders to use the urgency, outrage, and resistance common to both gang life and hip-hop in order to bring gangs into broader movements for social justice.
About the Author
John M. Hagedorn is associate professor of criminal justice and senior research fellow at Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He is editor of
Gangs in the Global City; co-editor of
Female Gangs in America: Essays on Girls, Gangs, and Gender; and author of the highly influential
People and Folks: Gangs, Crime, and the Underclass in a Rustbelt City.
MacArthur fellow Mike Davis is professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of many books, including Planet of Slums, City of Quartz, and Ecology of Fear.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Reading John Hagedorn, Mike Davis
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why Are Gangs Everywhere?
I. Globalizing Gangs
1. Ghetto, Favela, and Township: The Worlds Gangs Live In
2. Street Institutions: Why Some Gangs Won't Go Away
3. The Problem with Definitions: The Questionable Uniqueness of Gangs
4. From Chicago to Mumbai: Touring the World of Gangs
II. Race, Space, and the Power of Identity
5. No Way Out: Demoralization, Racism, and Resistance Identity
6. A Tale of Two Gangs: The Hamburgs and the Conservative Vice Lords
7. Reconsidering Culture: Race, Rap, and Resistance
8. Street Wars: Hip Hop and the Rise of Gangsta Culture
9. Contested Cities: Gentrification and the Ghetto
Conclusion: A Rose in the Cracks of Concrete
Notes
Index