Culture and Structure in The Truly Disadvantaged

Abstract

THIS ARTICLE OFFERS a critical analysis of W. J, Wilson's landmark work on urban poverty, The Truly Disadvantaged. Wilson's book analyzes the relationship between macroeconomic change (primarily deindustrialization) and innercity "underclass" culture, utilizing survey‐research data exclusively. Four major issues link the domains of structure and culture: household formation and childbearing behavior, social isolation, institutional disintegration, and aspirations of inner‐city children. The article critiques Wilson's arguments in these four domains, utilizing both classic and recent ethnographies of daily life in the African‐ American community, and suggests a research agenda for urban anthropology that will put the field back in the center of current policy debates on poverty, [underclass, African Americans, poverty, inner cities]