A rare, 15-year ethnography, this book follows the lives of individual, low-income African American youth from the beginning of high school into their early adult years. Levine shows how their interaction and experience with multiple institutions (family, school, community) and individuals (parents, friends, teachers, coaches, strangers) shape their hopes, fears, aspirations, and worldviews. The intersectionality of their social identities-how race, class, and gender come together to influence how they come to think about who they are-influences many behaviors that directly contradict their stated aspirations. Affected, too, by limited access to resources, these youths often take a path profoundly different from their stated values and life goals. Levine explores the volatility and constraints underlying their decision-making and behaviors. The book reveals the critical junctures and turning points shaping life trajectories, challenging many long-held assumptions about the persistence of racial inequality by offering new insights on the educational and occupational barriers facing young African Americans.

The second edition of this strong collection brings together classical statements on social stratification with current and original scholarship, providing a foundation for theoretical debate on the nature of race, class, and gender inequality. Designed for students in courses on social stratification, inequality, and social theory, this new edition includes a revised and updated editor's introduction and conclusion, along with five new chapters on race and gender from distinguished scholars in the field.

A rare, 15-year ethnography, this book follows the lives of individual, low-income African American youth from the beginning of high school into their early adult years. Levine shows how their interaction and experience with multiple institutions (family, school, community) and individuals (parents, friends, teachers, coaches, strangers) shape their hopes, fears, aspirations, and worldviews. The intersectionality of their social identities-how race, class, and gender come together to influence how they come to think about who they are-influences many behaviors that directly contradict their stated aspirations. Affected, too, by limited access to resources, these youths often take a path profoundly different from their stated values and life goals. Levine explores the volatility and constraints underlying their decision-making and behaviors. The book reveals the critical junctures and turning points shaping life trajectories, challenging many long-held assumptions about the persistence of racial inequality by offering new insights on the educational and occupational barriers facing young African Americans.

The second edition of this strong collection brings together classical statements on social stratification with current and original scholarship, providing a foundation for theoretical debate on the nature of race, class, and gender inequality. Designed for students in courses on social stratification, inequality, and social theory, this new edition includes a revised and updated editor's introduction and conclusion, along with five new chapters on race and gender from distinguished scholars in the field.