Praise for the Third Edition of Ain’t No Makin’ It

“This classic book, which now spans twenty-five years, has done more to enhance our understanding of the complex relationship between institutional structures and attitudes, beliefs, and experiences than any other single publication. Readers of this new edition of Ain’t No Makin’ It will fully appreciate that the odds of succeeding in life tend to be remote for those who start at the bottom.”

—William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor,
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

 

“Jay MacLeod’s Ain’t No Makin’ It is, simply, one of the best urban ethnographies of the past twenty-five years. There is not an ounce of romanticism in this study. It is not only a startling and beautifully crafted work of observation of the grim but vital lives endured by its subjects, but it has ideas about why and how the conditions he describes occurred. MacLeod’s people come alive in the text and, in this respect, the book can be read as a three-dimensional novel, which is a high compliment.”

—Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and
Urban Education, Graduate Center, City University of New York

 

“By retracing at ground level the lifepaths of two sets of white and black working-class teenagers over a quarter-century, MacLeod has produced a remarkable sociological study of inequality and a unique documentary on American society viewed from below. The harsh reality of class, the continuing significance of race, the corrosive power of moral individualism, the tangled dance of objective chances and subjective hopes, the abiding yearning for recognition: all are vividly portrayed and skillfully analyzed in this new edition of Ain’t No Makin’ It that affirms its status as a classic study of poverty in dualizing America.”

—Loïc Wacquant, University of California-Berkeley,
author of Urban Outcasts and Punishing the Poor

 

“As one of the original readers for a manuscript that was one day to be called Ain’t No Makin’ It, I became an early advocate of a remarkable book about the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. For nearly a quarter of a century, the book met my highest expectations and is now considered a classic in the field. The new material in this edition, containing oral histories and an analysis by Katherine McClelland and David Karen, gives this volume a fresh focus and a powerful new engagement with the peril we face as a nation—as a country that not only fails to redress the injuries of class but that vehemently denies that the harsh reality of class exploitation even exists.”

—Peter McLaren, Professor, Graduate School of
Education and Information Studies, UCLA

“The i is dotted in this rich follow-up of the Hallway Hangers and Brothers, now in their forties. Their fortunes differ but they share the prosaic concerns of all middle-aged men. Jay MacLeod reveals his deep sensitivity as a field worker in this fantastic peek into the future.”

—Peter Bearman, Cole Professor of the Social Sciences, Director of Institute for
Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University

 

“Ain’t No Makin’ It sets a new standard for illuminating, with passion and rigor, the connection among everyday life, race, and broader social forces that bear down on young people and adults. It ranks as one of the best ethnographies ever written not only because we can hear the voices of its central characters, but also because of its compassion, sense of justice, and extraordinary insights. This book is a must-read for everyone who cares about youth, racial justice, and education. What is remarkable about this book is that it registers despair but never gives up hope as it moves from the hardships of youth to an adult world caught in a theater of cruelty and never ending struggle.”

—Henry A. Giroux, Global TV Network Chair in
English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University;
author, Against the Terror of Neoliberalism