On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries)

Du site de l'éd.: Forty years in, the War on Drugs has done almost nothing to prevent drugs from being sold or used, but it has nonetheless created a little-known surveillance state in America's most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Arrest quotas and high-tech surveillance techniques criminalize entire blocks, and transform the very associations that should stabilize young lives-family, relationships, jobs-into liabilities, as the police use such relationships to track down suspects, demand information, and threaten consequences. Alice Goffman spent six years living in one such neighborhood in Philadelphia, and her close observations and often harrowing stories reveal the pernicious effects of this pervasive policing. Goffman introduces us to an unforgettable cast of young African American men who are caught up in this web of warrants and surveillance-some of them small-time drug dealers, others just ordinary guys dealing with limited choices. All find the web of presumed criminality, built as it is on the very associations and friendships that make up a life, nearly impossible to escape. We watch as the pleasures of summer-evening stoop-sitting are shattered by the arrival of a carful of cops looking to serve a warrant; we watch-and can't help but be shocked-as teenagers teach their younger siblings and cousins how to run from the police (and, crucially, to keep away from friends and family so they can stay hidden); and we see, over and over, the relentless toll that the presumption of criminality takes on families-and futures. While not denying the problems of the drug trade, and the violence that often accompanies it, through her gripping accounts of daily life in the forgotten neighborhoods of America's cities, Goffman makes it impossible for us to ignore the very real human costs of our failed response-the blighting of entire neighborhoods, and the needless sacrifice of whole generations "A remarkable chronicle . . . related with honesty and compassion," this ethnography reveals "the impact of probation and parole practices on one community" ( Publisher Weekly ). The War on Drugs has done almost nothing to prevent drugs from being sold or used, but it has created a little-known surveillance state in America's most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Alice Goffman spent six years living in one such neighborhood in Philadelphia, and her observations reveal the effects of this pervasive policing. Goffman introduces us to an unforgettable cast of young African American men who are caught up in this web of warrants and surveillance. All find the net of presumed criminality, built as it is on the very associations and friendships that make up a life, nearly impossible to escape. We watch as the pleasures of summer-evening stoop-sitting are shattered by the arrival of a carful of cops looking to serve a warrant; we watch as teenagers teach their younger siblings and cousins how to run from the police, and we see, over and over, the relentless toll that the presumption of criminality takes on families—and futures. Through her gripping accounts of daily life in the forgotten neighborhoods of America's cities, Goffman makes it impossible to ignore the very real human costs of our failed response. "Extraordinary." —Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker "A remarkable feat of reporting. . . . Astonishing—and riveting." — The New York Times Book Review "Goffman's lively prose . . . opens a window into a life where paranoia has become routine." — Baltimore City Paper "[Goffman] gives us a subtle analysis and poignant portrait of our fellow citizens who struggle to preserve their sanity and dignity." —Cornel West, author of Race Matters Forty years in, the War on Drugs has done almost nothing to prevent drugs from being sold or used, but it has nonetheless created a little-known surveillance state in America's most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Arrest quotas and high-tech surveillance techniques criminalize entire blocks, and transform the very associations that should stabilize young lives--family, relationships, jobs--into liabilities, as the police use such relationships to track down suspects, demand information, and threaten consequences. Alice Goffman spent six years living in one such neighborhood in Philadelphia, and her close observations and often harrowing stories reveal the pernicious effects of this pervasive policing. Goffman introduces us to an unforgettable cast of young African American men who are caught up in this web of warrants and surveillance--some of them small-time drug dealers, others just ordinary guys dealing with limited choices. All find the web of presumed criminality, built as it is on the very associations and friendships that make up a life, nearly impossible to escape. The 6th Street boys and their legal entanglements -- The art of running -- When the police knock your door in -- Turning legal troubles into personal resources -- The social life of criminalized young people -- The market in protections and privileges -- Clean people -- Conclusion: a fugitive community -- Epilogue: leaving 6th Street -- Appendix. A methodological note. Alice Goffman. Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-277).