Analysis Of Primo And Caesar In Philippe Bourgois In Search Of Respect

In the book In Search of Respect by Philippe Bourgois, Bourgois decides to really study the life of Primo and Caesar and how they got to the point of drug dealing. What he argues is that due to structural oppression that society has bestowed upon them, it has resulted in them inevitably become drug dealers. This is clearly shown when Primo and Caesar try to get jobs in the FIRE Sector but ultimately fail because they were treated unjustly. They were labeled as drug dealers by societal judgement which really impacted their chances of surviving a honest job. This is the whole idea of “interlocking structural oppression” which shows how society can label specific groups who are categorized by certain values and prevent them from doing their maximum potential. It isn’t that Primo and Caesar themselves aren’t qualified to do better but the fact that society has made it almost impossible for them to succeed. When we look at Primo and Caesar background, we see the rich Puerto Rican culture. In the 1800’s, many Puerto Ricans immigrate to New York City in order to seek work in the very industrious city. This whole concept of the “generational step ladder” came into effect because immigrants who worked in these harsh lower tier jobs paved the stepping stones for their future generations to step higher in the social ladder or upward mobility. This concept was fully understood by Primo and Caesar when they …show more content…
But they survive by taking their own steps to get out of this oppression. Bourgeois argues this whole concept of the “culture of poverty” because we can see people like Primo and Caesar hustling everyday in order to survive. They aren’t sitting at home in defeat because they can’t attain a job in the FIRE sector, they find other ways to attain an income even if it means illegal