- Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh
Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh is an American
sociologist and urbanethnographer born inIndia .Venkatesh moved with his family to
Southern California suburb of Irvine.cite web | url=http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/life/themorningread/article_2034696.php | author=Rivera, Ryan | title=Gang leader for a day? An academic took the plunge | date=2008-05-05 | publisher=Orange County Register | accessdate=2008-05-06 ] There he was active in sports and excelled in his academic studies while attending University High School. cite web | url=http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/life/themorningread/article_2034696.php | author=Rivera, Ryan | title=Gang leader for a day? An academic took the plunge | date=2008-05-05 | publisher=Orange County Register | accessdate=2008-05-06 ] He trained at theUniversity of Chicago withWilliam Julius Wilson and studied theRobert Taylor Homes , a housing project inChicago about which he wrote a book, "American Project." Venkatesh also authored a 2008 book titled, "Gang Leader For A Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes To The Streets." The book chronicles the life of urban poor in Chicago, particularly theRobert Taylor Homes and the gang, Black Kings.He is a professor of
sociology andAfrican-American studies atColumbia University . He is also the director of the Charles H Revson Fellowship.In his work, Venkatesh has documented criminal gangs and the drug trade, and has written about the dynamics of the
underground economy , contributing his findings to the research of economics professorSteven Levitt .Books
*"American Project. The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto", Harvard University Press, 2000
*"Off the Books. The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor", Harvard University Press, 2006
*"Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets ", Penguin Press HC, 2008He has also contributed toSteven Levitt 's "Freakonomics " in a chapter entitled, "Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms?"ee also
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Illegal drug trade References
External links
* [http://www.sudhirvenkatesh.org Venkatesh's official website]
* [http://www.sociology.columbia.edu/fac-bios/venkatesh/faculty.html Venkatesh's faculty homepage]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18003654 Researcher Studies Gangs by Leading one] on NPR website
* [http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/author/svenkatesh/ Sudhir Venkatesh opinion page] at Freakonomics blog
* [http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-street-gangs-but-didnt-know-whom-to-ask/ Everything you always wanted to know about street gangs but didn't know whom to ask] Venkatesh answering questions by readers of the Freakonomics blog
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UGC2nLnaes Steven Levitt: the Freakonomics of inner-city gangs (video)] Steven Levitt discusses the economics of street gangs and Venkatesh's findings (TED 2004)
* [http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/02/books-notes---a.html SAJAforum web radio interview with Venkatesh (one hour)] - a conversation about his books, his work and academia with Sree Sreenivasan of SAJAforum.org
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