Gangs in the Information Era
Critique of Modernity by Alain Touraine.
Simply the best book on the meaning of modernity and the dangers of post modernism. See the critique of the impact of the market on ethnicity on pages 182-185. For Touraine, gangs are,in part, a reaction to the post modern era, a theme echoed by Castells.
Oxford. Blackwell. 1995
What is Democracy? by Alain Touraine.
The sequel to Critique of Modernity. Touraine argues for the extension of democracy to recouncile social unity and diversity as well as protect the people from the unfettered power of the market.
Boulder, Co. Westview Press. 1998
"If there were no universalistic principles and human behavior were completely socially determined, no one could formulate laws. We would have to be content with social relativism — which may well satisfy ethnographers, but which is powerless against conquest, domination, exploitation, and cruelty. We must pass judgements; moral relativism is simply irresponsible."
Alain Touraine, What is Democracy? page 118
The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture (3 volumes) by Manuel Castells.
The most sweeping analysis of the changes in world economy and culture. Castells deals extensively with gangs and the informal economy throughout.
1996,1997, 1998. Oxford, Blackwell
The Global City by Saskia Sassen.
This is a seminal book, describing the impact of the information economy on all segments of society. Sasssen analyzes the functionality of the informal economy for globalization. It is Sassen's notion of the place of information capitalism that frames our understnading of gang today.
1991. Princeton.Princeton Universithy Press.
The Informal Economy: Studies in Advanced and Less Advanced Countries. edited by Alejandro Portes, Manuel Castells, and Lauren Benton.
The best collected volume on the meaning of the informal economy in today's world. the introductory and ending essays by the editors are essential reading.
1989. Baltimore, John's Hopkins
Back to Hagedorn's Homepage.
The Digital Divide
The central issue of our time and what can be done about it.
Bridging the Digital Divide: The Impact of Race on Computer Access and Internet Use .
A longer version of the Science article "Bridging the Racial Divide on the Internet", April 1, 1998
Hispanic connect!.
The Digital Divide and Hispanics.
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The digital divide as a civil rights issue
Chicago's Technology Action See how Mayor Daley intends to address the technological "have-nots."
Must Reading on social science
Pathos of Power by Kenneth B. Clark.
A ringing defnece of modernity and the need to combine the battle for human dignity with the quest for truth.
1974. New York. Harper.
Unthinking Social Science: The Limits of Nineteenth-Centrury Paradigms. by Immanuel Wallerstein
A critique of the role of social science in promoting "normal change" and opposing revolutionary movements. This historical approach raises the fundamental issue for the future: what will be the shape of the coming economic order?.1991. Cambridge, Polity Press
Postmodernism and Social Inquiry. edited by David R. Dickens and Andrea Fontana
An essential volume on the role of postmodern thought in social science. And excellent essay of Foucault by Stephen Best is only one of many outstanding essays.
1994. New York The Guilford Press
Local and Global: Management of cities in the Information Age. by Jordi Borja and Manuel Castells
An uneven volume on plannin, but rich in case studies and original documents.Makes the case for the central importance of cities in the informaion age.
1997. London. Earthscan
Return of the Actor: by Alain Touraine
Touraine's reconceptualization of the role and meaning of sociology in the crisis of modernity. A fine introduction by Stanley Aronowitz.
1988. Minneapolis. Univ. of Minnesota
Current and Important Books on gangs and the political economy of Chicago
Angel's Town: Chero Ways, Gang Life, and Rhetorics of the Everyday by Ralph Cintron
This book is a study of Chicago area Latino gangs in the past few years. The author has accepted an appointment to UIC in English starting in the fall of 2000.
1997. Boston. Beacon Books
New York, Chicago, Los Angeles: America's Global Cities by Janet Abu-Lughod.
Not about gangs, but this book is indispensible in understanding the trajectory of Chicago's economy and the impact of segregation.
1999. Minneapolis. University of Minnesota
Always Running La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez
Simply the best autobiography of a gang member.It may surprise you that the author, Internationally acclaimed poet Luis Rodriguez, lives in Pilsen near UIC.
1993. New York. Touchstone Books
Explosion of Chicago Street Gangs by Useni Eugene Perkins
You probably didn't know about this history of Chicago's African American gangs in their origins until the 1980s. Invaluable.
1987 Chicago. Third World Press
For A Full Listing of Books and articles on Chicago Gangs, go to the
Chicago Gang History Project Homepage
Do you want to be a part of making history? We need your stories about the origins, growth, and change in Chicago's male and female gangs. Contact Doug Thompkins at the Chicago Gang History Project
For Information on Gangs in Your City, see the
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