Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood, Second Edition with a New Foreword by Joe Feagin [Paperback]

Jay Macleod (Author), Joe R Feagin (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813341876 | ISBN-13: 978-0813341873 | Publication Date: August 6, 2004 | Edition: 2nd

With the original 1987 publication of Ain't No Makin' It Jay MacLeod brought us to the Clarendon Heights housing project where we met the "Brothers" and "Hallway Hangers." Their story of poverty, race, and defeatism moved readers and challenged ethnic stereotypes. MacLeod's return eight years later, and the resulting 1995 revision, revealed little improvement in the lives of these men as they struggled in the labor market and crime-ridden underground economy. This classic ethnography addresses one of the most important issues in modern social theory and policy: how social inequality is reproduced from one generation to the next. Now republished with a preface by Joe Feagin, Ain't No Makin' It remains an admired and invaluable text.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A Rhodes scholar, Jay MacLeod holds degrees in social studies and theology. He and his wife, Sally Asher, spent four years in Mississippi, where their work with local teenagers led to the publication of Minds Stayed on Freedom: The Civil Rights Struggle in the Rural South, An Oral History (WestviewPress). MacLeod is now an Anglican priest in Chesterfield, a declining mining and market town in Asher's native England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press; 2nd edition (August 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813341876
• ISBN-13: 978-0813341873
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Troublesome, September 7, 2003

By 

Matthieu P. Raillard (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations And Attainment In A Low-income Neighborhood, Expanded Edition (Paperback)

I read this years ago in an anthropology/sociology class in college, and I can say that it still carries as much weight today as it did then. Jay manages to weave entertaining narration with factual reporting, resulting in a moving work that points a critical finger at our society. I've actually met the author, and can say that he is an honest, engaging and professional writer. At no point did he milk the drama angle of this work, nor use it to further his own agenda. I noticed another reviewer called this book "socialist junk"; to this person I say: just because this work is a testament to some of the failures of America's precious capitalist model does not immediately make it socialist. Moreover, if socialism means having a conscience about racism and socioeconomic discrimination, then sign me up!

26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Truth About Poverty in America, December 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations And Attainment In A Low-income Neighborhood, Expanded Edition (Paperback)

This book gives an excellent insight into the lives of teenagers living in a low-income neighborhood. The book calls into question the American achievement ideology and forces the reader to reconsider his or her pre-concieved notions on poverty and its causes. The truth is that people aren't poor because they are lazy; they are poor because of numberous structural barriers in society that basicly trap them into poverty. This book is excellent for anyone interested in the social structure, but it would be better for someone who has never thought about the way society works and has the kind of closed-mindedness that cause many upper and middle-class people to view people of lesser social standing as lazy.

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A study of the persistance of poverty in a housing project, May 20, 2002

By 

S. Calhoun "rhymeswithorange" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations And Attainment In A Low-income Neighborhood, Expanded Edition (Paperback)

This book provides a thorough account of the aspirations and expectations of two male peer groups residing in a public housing project. Both peer groups, although originating from similar class locations, have distinct aspirations resulting from their racial lived experiences. The peer group consisting mostly of young black men (The Brothers) supported the achievement ideology that we live in an open society. They viewed the hardships faced by previous generations was a result of racial discrimination barriers that (theoretically) cease to exist. They applied themselves in socially acceptable practices such as excelling in school and keeping out of trouble. In contrast, the peer group consisting of mostly young white men (Hallway Hangers) rejected the achievement ideology and had low aspirations of their position in the labor market. They realized through family and friends that their chances of getting out of the projects is slim leading most of the Hallway Hangers dropped out of school and smoked dope, among other illegal activities. Despite the disjuncture of both groups' levels of aspirations, both failed to get out of poverty. MacLeod hung out with both of these male peer groups in an effort to understand their daily meanings of the role of education and their future aspirations rather than relying exclusively on statistical data.

I give this book four stars because MacLeod failed to take into consideration the aspirations and expectations of young women. Instead he concentrated solely on the role of race and class. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand how societal structures restrict and limit the actions of individuals. Furthermore this book challenges the myth that education creates a level playing field for all regardless of race or class (and gender too ~ although not addressed here).