HIS 3360

HISTORY OF STREET GANGS

Street gangs have been a pervasive feature of urban life since the rise of the big city in Jacksonian America, and yet their role of occupying and ‘transgressing’ public space has been little acknowledged outside of attempts by concerned parents and public officials to ‘control deviant behavior.’ This course seeks to recover the historicity of street gangs, especially as they emerged within working class culture in American metropolitan areas, and to recognize the importance of gang formation in social organizations such as crime syndicates, political machines, black nationalist organizations, and even play groups.

Units: 3.0