East Harlem By Philippe Bourgois Summary

Philippe Bourgois was a professor and head of the Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. He has done fieldwork in Central America on ethnicity and social disturbances. For the very first time in 1985, Bourgois as an anthropologist had managed to gain the trust and friendship of street drug dealers in a rough neighborhood called East Harlem. In East Harlem, Bourgois got a look into the drug filled life and culture and even the gender roles that played along with it. Bourgois argues that “As men on the street lose their former authoritarian power in the household, they lash out against the women and children they can no longer control.” (214) I do agree with Bourgois argument because even though men are using violence …show more content…
It exemplifies the patriarchal ways that she grew accustomed to and violence that she hasn’t escaped from even when she was dealing and making her own money. It doesn’t really describe how a woman is redefining their gender roles but submitting into an already social fact that was there before her time and will be there after. One strength is that, Candy’s story is an example of the life of her community has impacted on her. “Human reason is not innate, it is socially formed.” (Zunner-Keating) The social norms that are expected of her is to either be a battered wife but also gaining respect though violence.

Bourgois has lived in east Harlem for five years. In east Harlem, he learned how the Puerto Rican community defines gender roles and how women are redefining gender roles. Even though Candy’s actions might contradict how women are gaining their independence or rights, it comes together on how their community sees how respect is obtained. In overall it is a great documentation on the Puerto Rican life in East Harlem and how they get