Lauren Berg
SOC 310
Final Essay
Sidewalk:
Filling in the Cracks
In recent
decades there has been an ever-increasing number of homeless people in the
United States. There are a large number of stereotypes, stigmas, and
irrationalities towards the homeless population. In recent times, social
research is in greater need than ever before. In his book Sidewalk, Duneier takes his reader into his research of the vendors
and the homeless people on the sidewalk of 6th and Greenwich Avenue of New York
City.
Duneier draws
on many important points that have to do with race, class, status, habits, and
stereotypes. He described in his book how the people of the “sidewalk” did not
end up there simply by coincidence or because of lack of ambition and effort.
There are a series of social reasons that have caused them to end up where they
are.
As he
describes it, their downfall to living and/or working on the streets typically
is the initial result of racism in the job market and discouraging economic
prospects. Without much hope for the future, drugs and alcohol are often used
to numb their woes. Because a lack of income, they often lose their homes and
are forced to live on the street. After a person gets to that stage of being a
homeless drug user, it is nearly impossible for them to reverse the cycle. Many
are unable to obtain jobs in the formal economy and are frowned upon by society,
especially if they have been sent to jail for drug usage. For many of them,
their best opportunity is to build a life in informal market community. There
are exceptions to this process though, such as how some people make a choice to
be homeless and/or make their living on the informal market. Working as a
vendor gives many a sense of purpose and moral code to earn their own living;
and some choose to live in a way that best facilitates their source of income.
Many
lawmakers have tried the approach of eliminating the homeless population and
the informal market. They have attempted to do so in a variety of ways, for
example when flyers were handed out in the Pennsylvania Station to not give
money to the panhandlers because it “keeps them homeless”. Another example from
the book is when all the unnecessary nooks and crannies were of Pennsylvania
Station made inaccessible, so that homeless people no longer had space to rest
or do their business; this eventually led to the migration of homeless
population to where they currently are, according to Duneier, in the Greenwich
Village. There were laws created to ban vendors from selling on the streets,
but eventually there was an exception made that vending written material was
allowed. The lawmakers can attempt to get people off the streets and into
social services, and they can attempt to end the informal market, but their
attempts will always be far from complete success.
The sub-society
of Greenwich Village is complex and ever changing. Duneier used ethnographic
approaches and methods to analyze the Greenwich Village life. Many of his
methods are similar to those of sociological theorists. In this essay I will
compare and analyze Duneier’s observations and theories with those of the
sociological theorists Erving Goffman, Karl Marx, and Herbert Mead.
The Sidewalk can be interpreted using several
of Goffman’s theories. Symbolic interactionism is a theory that puts emphasis
on micro-scale interaction to determine meaning of behaviors and social systems.
Goffman manipulated this definition a little, giving it more complexity, detail,
and also by developing a theoretical process in which groups and societies are
formed. His theoretical process shows that symbols
and social meaning, which allow for human beings’ unique capacity for thought,
are not only shaped through human interactions but also allow for interaction
and action. One such interaction that allows for symbols and meanings to be
modified is with oneself. Groups and
societies are then made up of patterns of
interaction and action.
When
Goffman’s theory of symbolic interactionism is applied to the “people of the
sidewalk” in Duneier’s book, it helps us gain understanding of the complex
structure of their community. Being a part of the sidewalk community has helped
many people face and overcome their problems. The people of this community
provide support, mentorship, information, and a means of survival to one
another. As Duneier states, becoming part of the sidewalk is “becoming part of
the lifeline, the web of interactions that constitutes the ongoing life of the
sidewalk”. The lifeline of the sidewalk exists because people continue to play
their roles as mentors, public characters, and vendors. Although much of
society may not understand how selling things such as books and magazines can
be fulfilling, others have found it fulfilling to earn an honest living.
The people
of the sidewalk communicate and converse with one another, and while doing so
they may change their views on many meanings and symbols of things that they
use in their daily life. Black books, which are books written about blacks or
by blacks, are important symbols to many people in the community. Hakim, who is
seen as a mentor in the community, explained to a young man of the neighborhood
that black books teach “you about yourself and how white people look at you. It
teaches you stuff that white people don’t teach you”. Black books can symbolize knowledge of ones
culture, a tool to find self-identity, or black pride.
Mentors of
the sidewalk help encourage others to succeed, do better in life and in general
strive for self-betterment. Ultimately
everyone on the sidewalk has something in common; they are all on the sidewalk
and just trying to survive and satisfy their own needs and their family’s needs.
According to the symbolic interaction theory, the interactions of people of the
sidewalk together form the community that they are today.
Related to
symbolic interactionism is another one of Goffman’s theories that can be
applied to Sidewalk. Dramaturgy is a
theoretical metaphor in which social life and social interaction are related to
a dramatic performance. There are several aspects of this theory that I will
describe in the following sentences. The
self is a construction of interaction and performance. The front stage and the
back stage are the locations in which a performance is or is not put on. Impression
management is how the self protects against unexpected action. Idealization is
used when the actors want to present themselves in a way, which will fit the
expectations of their audience. These aspects of dramaturgy can all be seen
within Duneier’s Sidewalk.
One of the
largest faults Duneier’s ethnographic methods of sociological research in Sidewalk can be explained using
Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy. The un-housed population is almost always on
the front stage, as they are almost always in the view of the public’s eyes.
Most people try to use idealized behavior when others are around, but the
un-housed are often forced to have “indecent” public behavior, such as urinate
or change a baby’s diaper on the sidewalk. When such acts are performed it can
ruin a persons public reputation, and damage potential opportunities. Duneier
also mentions that during many of his interviews and conversations with the
people of Greenwich Village, idealization had an impact. In several instances people
lied to Duneier. A possible reason for this reaction is that they wanted to believe
they were better off and had more prospects than they actually did. Another
possibility is that they felt a need to make their life sound better than it is
to impress Duneier and idealize themselves. There are several possible explanations
but there is no way to know for sure which one is accurate.
According to Goffman’s theory, the self is a
product of interaction, “a dramatic effect arising… from a scene that is
presented” (Goffman, 2011). In Goffman’s
view the selves of the people of Greenwich Village are shaped by the
interactions they have with one another and the public, it is a group process.
This coincides with Marx’s view of the self in some ways, such as how the self
is a product of interaction. On the other hand, it is in opposition to Mark’s
view because as Marx believed that the self was more a product of perceptions
than of group processes.
The first
of Marx’s theories that I will discuss is money in bourgeois society. The
theory states that one’s individuality is not determined by their own
characteristics or capacities, but the power of money to transform what one
wants into what one is. Thus money not only affords a person commodities, but
also characteristics such as status, beauty, talent, honesty, or the lack there
of.
Using
Marx’s theory of money in bourgeois society to analyze the behaviors and the
stereotypes that citizens have against the black lower-class men of Greenwich
Village, I have drawn several conclusions. The Romps are a lower-class white
family who live down the street from the vendors every December to sell
Christmas trees. When they first came there to sell trees they were immediately
accepted and trusted by people living in the general area. They were given the
keys to several apartments and houses and told to use them to use their
bathrooms when they need to. They were treated exponentially better than any of
the black families were, and hardly had to work to gain that trust. The African
American families of the neighborhood most likely did not receive such support
from society because of their race. It is true that blacks are more feared in
American society than whites are (Duneier, 1999), which I believe is a result
of their general lower economic class. Because they tend to have less economic
opportunities than whites, they commit more robberies and other such petty
crimes. This has built a stereotype that the African American population is not
very trust worthy. Therefore, it was ultimately because African Americans lack of
money that the Romps were immediately trusted by the general population, and
none of the black families were.
Another of
Marx’s theories can help one gain a better understanding of why the people of
Greenwich Village came to be un-housed and/or came to work on the informal
market. Marx has a strong theory of economics, in which he explains his view on
capitalism. His theory states that capitalism is very exploitative to the
working class. The owners of successful business and means of production benefit
from capitalism, but there are several drawbacks to capitalism. Marx wrote that
capitalism causes the working class to suffer from not realizing their full
human capacity of creativity, causes several forms of alienation, it leads to
monopoly, and general exploitation of the middle and lower classes. His theory on
the relationship between property ownership and labor are also relevant to
Greenwich Village, as it explains why the people of the “sidewalk”, once,
un-housed, it is very rare for them to ever economically prosper to the extent
in which the upper class does.
Although
Duneier did not individually state each of the reasons why the people of the
“sidewalk” are not working in the formal market, he did explain that in general
it was because of exploitation. The exploitation of the black race in the work
force may be the primary reason, but this is also interlinked with the lower
class in general. Although Marx did not have much to say on the subject of
race, it is true that the lower class of America is dominated by people of
color because of racism in the workforce. The average African American man
earns only 72 percent of the average white man (Light, 2011). It is because of
this exploitation in the workforce that many of the men of the sidewalk community
did not have good jobs or job security, and once they lost their jobs they had
little economic prospects. The increase in machinery and technology has also
caused a decrease in the number of jobs and job security for the lower class,
which coincides with Marx in the Communist Manifesto. This is how the sidewalks
have come to be dominated by African Americans.
Duneier
explains that the vendors enjoy the sense of freedom that the informal market
gives them. This is partially because they like making an honest living rather
than the alternative, but I believe that this may be because they enjoy using
their creative potential. Marx believed that working in a structured industry
of the formal economy causes the worker to feel alienated. The vendors on 6th
avenue choose their work and how they do it, so they do not become alienated
from their work like those of the formal market often do. They are not
alienated from their product, because they are the ones who set the price and
sell it to the consumer. Most of them have many conversations and friendships
with the other workers of the area, and therefore are not alienated from one
another. The worker of the informal market rarely becomes alienated from their
self, because most of them feel comfortable in the Greenwich community, and to
many of them it is their home, so they must feel comfortable there.
One of
Herbert Mead’s most prominent theories is called pragmatism. Unlike Goffman or
Marx theories discussed in this paper, with his pragmatism theory, Mead developed
a way of observing people and communities.
He states that “ideas are not copies of external objects, but truth is a
form of action” (Mead, 2001). He believes that in order to understand social
actors, we must understand them based on what they actually do. Duneier follows
the same pragmatic approach with his ethnographic methods.
Duneier’s
methods of observation seem very accurate. He made many observations of his
subjects, using different methods, over a long period of time. His most
programmatic approach was the most commonly used in his writing; this is when
he joined his subjects on the streets. He got to know them well and observe
their behavior over a long period of time. This approach seemed to be unflawed
to me, in combination with his other data collecting methods and his awareness
of the possible flaws of the methods. If Duneier did not combine pragmatism
with other forms of observation, he would not have gained nearly as much
important data. Although with working with the other forms of data collections
he had to be careful to execute this methods correctly, because it would be
easy to have errors. It was very necessary for him to do his observations over
a long period of time, to keep his tape recorder with him while observing to
prevent obscuring of the data, and to also interview his subjects. It was also
essential that he assess his interviews for accuracy.
Another
notion of Mead’s that can be seen within Sidewalk
is the generalized other. This notion is in reference to an attitude and
expectations of a group to each individual. To be a member of this group it is
required that one understands the attitudes of the group. This group of people
give to an individual their unity of self. Mead argues that is essential to
find that understanding because the complete self is social and part of a
group.
The
Greenwich Village provides many people with these essential requirements to
having a complete self. All the roles that people play in the sub-society of
Greenwich Village, such as vendor, panhandler, mentor and public character,
work together to form a community. They all share common attitudes and have
certain expectations. In order for Duneier to accurately observe the community,
he had to find those attributes and common expectations. His first acceptance into this social group
began when he befriended a vendor named Hakim. Hakim taught Duneier a lot about
the community and was a way for Duneier to meet many others of the community,
which gave him some entrance into the community. Duneier helped many with their
vending and daily work which granted him acceptance to an extent, but to the community
he was still part of the generalized other: he was still seen partly as a
white, higher class, social researcher. I would presume that the community
accepted him more throughout the years that he spent there, although I do not
recall Duneier mentioning that.
Throughout
this paper I have analyzed and contrasted Sidewalk
with several sociological theories. Using Goffman’s theory of symbolic interactionism
I have determined that the Greenwich Village community is more than just people
making ends-means but is a lifeline for people, which forms character for
individuals. I compared dramaturgy with Duneier’s research methods, and have
assessed faults in both systems. Goffman’s and Marx’s theories of the self were
compared in an attempt to determine which one works better with the individuals
discussed in Sidewalk. Marx’s theory
of money was used to determine why a white family in the same neighborhood could
gain so much more trust in the community than the black families that have been
working for such trust for long periods of time. I concluded that some of
Marx’s ideas on capitalism, such as alienation do not apply to the informal
market like it does to the formal market; which along with their satisfaction
of earning an honest living make the vendors want to keep their job. It was
determined that if Duneier only used Mead’s pragmatic approach to observing his
subjects that he would not be successful; it takes more than just observation
of the actions of an individual to fully understand them. Lastly, I used Mead’s
theory of the generalized other to determine a better understanding of how the
Greenwich Village community views others.
I found
that out of all the theories that were used, Goffman’s theory of symbolic
interactionism was the most relevant and helpful in analyzing Mitchel Duneier’s
book the Sidewalk. I feel this theory
is superior to the others because it could be looked at from different angles
to see several aspects of Sidewalk
differently.
The book Sidewalk filled a spacious void in
social research that was much in need of filling. Vendors and un-housed people
are an important part of almost every city in the world, and gaining a better
understanding of them is essential for lawmakers, government officials and
organizations to know how to troubleshoot problems involving them with more
success. The use of Goffman’s, Marx’s, and Mead’s theories in analyzing this
book was helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of the Greenwich Village
sub-culture, and helped me gain a better sociological understanding.
