A professor's notes from the underground: Review of Floating city by Sudhir Venkatesh, Allen Lane, 278 pages

Abstract

Sudhir Venkatesh shot to fame with his book Gang Leader for a Day and with his contributions to the chapters in Freakonomics in which he analysed the behaviour of drug peddlers and sex workers. Gang Leader for a Day was a departure from the usual works of sociology - from known frameworks of social structures towards a participative, ethnographic work. It was groundbreaking in many ways: because of the methods; the ethical dilemma that these methods raised; and the subject, which looked deeply into Chicago's underground drug economy. This work was a result of a much younger Venkatesh, a relatively unknown student trying to get going on his doctoral thesis and not trapped by fame. Read more at: https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/a-professor-s-notes-from-the-underground-113122401082_1.html