The Urban Villagers

Herbert Gans' study of Italian Americans in Boston's West-End is one of the classics of contemporary sociology. A first-hand account of life in an inner city neighborhood, it is a systematic and sensitive analysis of working-class culture - and of the politicians, planners, and other outside professionals who affected it. In this edition, Gans has added extensive postscripts and updates the study's finding on American society, adding new material on poverty and inequality. He also critically examines the research of two decades and explains why he now takes issue with some of his original conclusions as well. 443 pages.