In Search Of Respect Selling Crack In El Barrio Summary

In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio by Phillipe Bourgois is a riveting research book which explores the effect of large structural forces and local cultural dynamics which mould the character of Puerto Rican individuals who reside in New York, East Harlem- El Barrio. The drug cocaine commonly known as crack lies as the central theme in the research. Phillipe Bourgois utilizes this theme in order to explore the underground economy in El Barrio and thus discovers the social, economic and cultural marginalisation and isolation of the Puerto Rican expats in El Barrio. In the research Phillipe Bourgois discusses the structural forces and local cultural dynamics which are the synergy between culture and psychological activity looking

at the reasons behind why people do certain things.
Ray is introduced by Bourgois as an influential character in the research: In search for Respect. He is a 32-year-old man originating from Puerto Rico with a passion for business. Ray is a crackhouse (business that specialises in the production and selling of crack) owner with a bountiful number of employees and friends.
The sense of identity is fundamental in the lives of all humans. Moreover, in the judicial society as it ensures you are a legal resident of a country thus having basic human rights and availability to services and mobility inside and outside a particular region. The possibilities with a legal identification are seemingly endless. However, Ray is denied that very possibility by the legal structural system when his application for a photo identification is repeatedly denied. This ensures that Ray’s economic and social exclusion in the United States of America as a non-white individual where his abilities to “operate as a legal entrepreneur” is infirmed. Without a legal identity Ray is symbolically handcuffed to life in El Barrio and thus has no legal functionality outside of El Barrio.
The crackhouse business run by Ray is an informal and illegal business. In study of the Bourgois research book the reader begins why this seemingly entrepreneurial character remains in the informal and illegal trade business. Like many young Puerto Ricans Ray has been denied and important stepping stone in life which is a basic education. Coming from a low-income Puerto Rican background meant that the probability and opportunity to get an education was slim due to the legislation in the Educational structural system by the government that discriminates against non-whites. The effect of not having an education is considerable in Ray’s life as it means that his ability to make rational decisions is impeded. Bourgois mentions that “[Ray] often seemed naïve or evening learning-disabled…he was completely incapable of fathoming the intricate rules and regulations of legal society” (Bourgois,2003, p.28). Furthermore, being illiterate was ignominious thus Ray endured mocking and shaming which was belittling to his status. However, Ray is able to in some way defeat the system by wholly embracing street culture in his underground drug system. This culture works well to his advantage.
Ascribable to the lack of a degree or academic qualification Ray resorts to violence as a means of gaining respect and status.

After Bourgois publicly embarrasses Ray, he becomes hostile towards Bourgois and threatens him. The culture of violence and terror is rife in the illegal trade business. Violence is perpetually enforced in order to instil fear amongst workers and competitors so that boundaries are established. It is seen as a regulator in the illicit economy. However, the chorography of violence reveals that it becomes an obsession amongst poor people which is problem because community members who are in close approximation of the illicit economy fall prey to violence that comes along in these areas. The domain in which Ray operates negatively influence his agency not to be the good person his childhood friend Candy describes him to be when she says to Bourgois “[Ray] was like a Gumby Bear as a kid. He was always a nice kid”, “We were like brothers and sisters. He always helped me out.” Instead the circumstances and experiences that Ray has lived have caused him to become more violent with Caesar explaining to Bourgois that “Regular acts of violence are essential for preventing rip-offs by colleagues, customers, and professional holdup artists. Indeed, upward mobility in the underground economy of the street dealing world requires a systematic and effective use of violence against one’s colleagues, neighbors, and, to a certain extent, against one’s self.” (Bourgois,2003, p.24). The explanation supports that the underground, illicit economy requires the attitude of those in it to become more violent and “barbaric” (Bourgois,2003, p.24) thus the description of a good and kind Ray by Candy is

contradicted.
Primo is a significant character in the research, In search of Respect. Phillipe Bourgois establishes a genuine friendship with Primo from which he gains a lot of information about life in El Barrio from the perspective of a Nuyorican. The word Nuyorican describes someone whose ethnicity is Puerto Rican, however, was raised and/or lives in and around New York. Primo is an earnest and hardworking young man. However, due to the social influence around him he dropped out of school joining the statistic of uneducated Puerto Ricans in America. A study by Kerris Copper and Kitty Stewart (2013) found that children who are born in low-income households perform less in life than their privileged peers in terms of areas such as health and education merely based on the fact that they are poorer.(Cooper and Stewart,2013) This is the case for Primo who comes from a low-income background in El Barrio. His background limits his agency in his future and sets him back from being a successful young man.
Interestingly Primo does not blame the lack of his success to find employment on anyone. Instead, he believes that the root of his suffering comes from his own agency. Primo’s points out to Caesar (his friend) that “You has to do good for yourself in order to achieve, and you have to achieve in life in order to get somewhere. If you lay back, it’s ‘cause you want to lay back, and then you want to cry out for help later. The struggle’s harder for the poor,you gotta faith and respect for your own self. If I have a problem it’s because I brought it upon myself. Nobody gotta worry about me; I’m gonna handle it. It’s my problem.” This illustrates the responsibility and agency that Primo assumes over his life. In an attempt to improve his standard of living Primo makes an effort to frequently visit the Testing Assessment and Placement Centre in order to find a legal job. Nonetheless, his efforts rendered null and void due to the disinterest of his job counsellor. But the underlying fact was that in the year 1990 the availability of jobs had dramatically decreased due to the recession and high influx of immigrants who came to America with the illusion that life would be much better there. This then increased the competition for jobs and meant that placement would be strongly based on an individual’s social and cultural capital in entry-level jobs. The employment structural system that is in power seems to be the cause of his downfall regardless of his efforts. Primo tries to explore other independent means of employment such as a job as a repairer. “Mr. Fix-It-Services” (Bourgois,2003, p.135) due to the lack of cultural capital. His customers often distrusted him because of ethnicity, he was constantly let down due to his identity and not because of the level of skill he had. Primo also worked legally as a mail room clerk but ended up quitting. Both jobs mentioned are economically different one being informal and the latter formal. However, in both setups Primo encounters racism and humiliation as an account of his identity. Racism is constant irritating itch in the lives of the oppressed. Primo’s character continually brought down by the employment structure thus reader can deduce that is the root of the spiral of decline in his mental health.
Overtime the repeated failure of applying for employment in the legal system and the constant disrespect in the places where he does find work ushers Primo to work instead for Ray in the underground drug system. It is here that Primo is certain of some form of respect amongst his peers and colleagues as they all come from similar backgrounds. The underground drug system is attractive because it allows individuals such as Primo to earn money that they probably would have never earned working in the legal system. Unlike the legal systems where qualifications play a huge role prosperity in the underground system relies on the amount of work you put in as an individual. However, the underground system is harmful too as legal rules and legislation do not apply. Workers are largely exploited and abused where upward mobility of workers is rare. The nature of the underground system is violent and parasitic where workers also become “violent, substance-abusing felons no matter what immigrant ethnic group” (Bourgois,2003, p.55) one is from. As a result of the aforementioned, Primo becomes a compulsive substance abuser just like many other illegal trade workers. Substance abuse is a way in which individuals try to deal with their circumstances. The usage of drugs has a ‘feel good’ effect where the user momentarily becomes numb from daily life situations that are difficult to deal with. The abuse of drugs ensures that illegal trade workers are chained to their circumstances as they become addicted to substances and thus likely to stay in the comfort of knowing they will always have access to drugs.
Moreover, the underground drug system feed the culture of violence and abuse. It is not always a stable job as workers can easily be laid off in various times such as when production of drugs is low due to the economic recession. Primo in his frustrations of his economic situation is abusive towards his girlfriend. In conjunction with substance abuse Primo verbally abuses his girlfriend because through her he has a sense of domination where he can exercise his patriarchal power. It is if she becomes his punching bag where he can release his frustration of misfortune in the employment sector outside their home. Primo’s masculinity is especially challenged when he is completely jobless and has to rely on his mother and sisters for shelter and food. Bourgois importantly evaluates that “the stable factory-worker incomes that might have allowed Caesar and Primo to support their families have largely disappeared from the inner city. Perhaps if their social network had not been confined to the weaker sector of manufacturing in a period of rapid job loss, their teenage working-class dreams might have stabilized them for long enough to enable them to adapt to the resurrecting of the local economy…Instead they find themselves propelled headlong into an explosive confrontation