Neglected Social Theorists of Color: Deconstructing the Margins provides a novel contribution to the ongoing debates concerning the canon in contemporary sociological theory. In particular, the editors argue that many scholars whose work may hold significant potential for contributions to contemporary debates in social theory go unrecognized. Still others, while not completely ignored, have fallen victim to a cultural and political climate not receptive to their work. Feminist scholars have been in the forefront of these debates, arguing that many insightful social theorists have been marginalized because of their gender. More recently, studies of individual theorists of color have appeared, but these have been limited to African American scholars such as W.E.B. Du Bois. In the present text, the editors extend this approach to include a broad diversity of theorists of color, including those of African American, Afro-Caribbean, Latinx, Asian, Asian American, and Native American backgrounds. In addition, the editors also include the work of authors who come from academic fields outside of sociology and others who are journalists, activists, or independent writers. The work has a unique format, where the authors of each chapter provide a theoretical analysis of their subject and a discussion of the contemporary significance of their work, lending to a rich discussion of underappreciated sociological scholars.

The areas along the U.S.-Mexico border are commonly portrayed as a hot spot for gang activity, drug trafficking, and violence. Yet when Robert J. Duran conducted almost a decade's worth of ethnographic research in border towns between El Paso, Texas, and southern New Mexico-a region notorious for gang activity, according to federal officials-he found significantly less gang membership and activity than common fearmongering claims would have us believe. Instead, he witnessed how the gang label was used to criminalize youth of Mexican descent-to justify the overrepresentation of Latinos in the justice system, the implementation of punitive practices in the school system, and the request for additional resources by law enforcement. In The Gang Paradox, Duran analyzes the impact of deportation, incarceration, and racialized perceptions of criminality on Latino families and youth along the border. He draws on ethnography, archival research, official data sources, and interviews with practitioners and community members to present a compelling portrait of Latino residents' struggles amid deep structural disadvantages. Duran, himself a former gang member, offers keen insights into youth experience with schools, juvenile probation, and law enforcement. The Gang Paradox is a powerful community study that sheds new light on intertwined criminalization and racialization, with policy relevance toward issues of gangs, juvenile delinquency, and the lack of resources in border regions.

Refusing to cast gangs in solely criminal terms, Robert J. Dur?n, a former gang member turned scholar, recasts such groups as an adaptation to the racial oppression of colonization in the American Southwest. Developing a paradigm rooted in ethnographic research and almost two decades of direct experience with gangs, Dur?n completes the first-ever study to follow so many marginalized groups so intensely for so long, revealing their core characteristics, behavior, and activities within two unlikely American cities.

Dur?n spent five years in Denver, Colorado, and Ogden, Utah, conducting 145 interviews with gang members, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and other relevant individuals. From his research, he constructs a comparative outline of the emergence and criminalization of Latino youth groups, the ideals and worlds they create, and the reasons for their persistence. He also underscores the failures of violent gang suppression tactics, which have only further entrenched these groups within the barrio. Encouraging cultural activists and current and former gang members to pursue grassroots empowerment, Dur?n proposes new solutions to racial oppression that challenge and truly alter the conditions of gang life.

Refusing to cast gangs in solely criminal terms, Robert J. Dur?n, a former gang member turned scholar, recasts such groups as an adaptation to the racial oppression of colonization in the American Southwest. Developing a paradigm rooted in ethnographic research and almost two decades of direct experience with gangs, Dur?n completes the first-ever study to follow so many marginalized groups so intensely for so long, revealing their core characteristics, behavior, and activities within two unlikely American cities.

Dur?n spent five years in Denver, Colorado, and Ogden, Utah, conducting 145 interviews with gang members, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and other relevant individuals. From his research, he constructs a comparative outline of the emergence and criminalization of Latino youth groups, the ideals and worlds they create, and the reasons for their persistence. He also underscores the failures of violent gang suppression tactics, which have only further entrenched these groups within the barrio. Encouraging cultural activists and current and former gang members to pursue grassroots empowerment, Dur?n proposes new solutions to racial oppression that challenge and truly alter the conditions of gang life.

The areas along the U.S.-Mexico border are commonly portrayed as a hot spot for gang activity, drug trafficking, and violence. Yet when Robert J. Duran conducted almost a decade's worth of ethnographic research in border towns between El Paso, Texas, and southern New Mexico-a region notorious for gang activity, according to federal officials-he found significantly less gang membership and activity than common fearmongering claims would have us believe. Instead, he witnessed how the gang label was used to criminalize youth of Mexican descent-to justify the overrepresentation of Latinos in the justice system, the implementation of punitive practices in the school system, and the request for additional resources by law enforcement. In The Gang Paradox, Duran analyzes the impact of deportation, incarceration, and racialized perceptions of criminality on Latino families and youth along the border. He draws on ethnography, archival research, official data sources, and interviews with practitioners and community members to present a compelling portrait of Latino residents' struggles amid deep structural disadvantages. Duran, himself a former gang member, offers keen insights into youth experience with schools, juvenile probation, and law enforcement. The Gang Paradox is a powerful community study that sheds new light on intertwined criminalization and racialization, with policy relevance toward issues of gangs, juvenile delinquency, and the lack of resources in border regions.