Phillipe Bourgois

There are two dominant themes that play an important role in the book. The first theme is the structural conditions that impact and marginalize these women and men on a daily basis. The second theme is the search for respect and the reclaiming of dignity by these men and women. Through these themes Bourgois (2002:17) portrays that the people living in El Barrio are known to blame the victim for their misfortune of being the underclass of the United States population and “living in the inferno” due to their inability to compete with the classes above them who are more able of succeeding since they have greater opportunities to do so. This competition has led the minorities living in such bad ne

The amount of Puerto Ricans that immigrated to New York from Puerto Rico was overwhelming. According to the 1980 census, “thirty-six percent of all Puerto Rican born between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four were living in the mainland United States” (Bourgois, 51). Hence, around 1.5 million Puerto Ricans have immigrated to the United States, which is an enormous amount. As United States was changing rapidly from being mostly agricultural to becoming industrial, Puerto Rican immigrants had to adjust to these changes, which was very difficult for them. According to Bourgois (2002: 52), over the past two or three generations, Puerto Ricans emigrants started out as peasants in New York, to becoming agricultural laborers to factory workers, to sweatshop workers, to service employees, and then to underground economy entrepreneurs. These variations of ways Puerto Rican immigrants earned a salary was not too different from each other, since all of these ways of earning an income for a living was not enough to live a normal life and support their family. These conditions of not having good income have caused the Puerto Rican immigrants to live in poverty.

Dignity and respect are sought by everyone despite color of skin, gender, or race. As Bourgois (2002: 324) states, “like most humans on earth, in addition to material subsistence, they are also searching for dignity and fulfillment.” Even people living in poor neighborhoods, such as El Barrio, want respect and pride. For instance, when Candy tried to show respect by dressing well, the judge misunderstood her and hurt Candy’s feelings. Candy thought that if she would respect the judge, in return the judge would respect her. However, her assumption was not correct, as she explained to Primo, “so my first judge, she didn’t consider me with respect because of the way I was dressed” (Bourgois, 257).

ighborhoods, such as the streets of Spanish Harlem, to search for respect and dignity while the American Society is doing the opposite, segregating and separating them from the rest of the society causing ghettoization to take place.

Cultural Capital is a type of social skill, knowledge of certain resource, or a knack (Lecture, 4/5/2003). An indication of cultural capital is when an individual has an ability to use theoretical knowledge. Moreover, “it is when an individual can use power and ability to use symbols, props, and implements of cultural form” (Lecture, 4/5/2003). Thus, an individual that knows his way around in a familiar place will have a difficult time adjusting to a different place and environment. This differentiation causes them to become much harder to change their ways of interaction. Bourgois blames the social and economic factors which cause the victims of cultural capital to be marginalized and live in poverty due to geographical dislocation and isolation.

Bourgois says that drugs are not the problem, it is the way men and women are marginalized. In order to eliminate marginalization, they have to be provided with some way to make a living. According to Bourgois (2002: 320), an attempt must be made “to address the ‘drug problem’ be made to alter the economic imbalance between the rewards of the legal economy versus those of the underground economy.” Moreover, Bourgois (2002:321) believes that the simplest way of stopping the economic motivation for participation in the underground economy is by demolishing the profitability of drug trafficking by legalizing drugs. Thus, if narcotics would be legalized, youths would no longer be forced to try drugs since the selling of drugs will no longer be profitable. However, job opportunities should be easier to obtain without having employers judge an employee by the color of their skin or by their nationality. In addition, “the increasing material and political powerlessness of the working poor in the United States needs to become a central concern” (Bourgois, 322

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