The Struggle and the Tools: Oral and Literate Strategies in an Inner City Community

by Ellen Cushman

Overview

The Struggle and the Tools explores the daily lives and language use of African-American men, women, and children living in an inner city neighborhood. Based on three-and-a-half years of fieldwork, this book presents the oral, literate, and analytical strategies (the "tools") inner city residents use to gain resources, access to social institutions, and respect (the "struggle"). It honors both the types of agency present in the struggle, and the kinds of linguistic savvy present in the tools. It examines the deep games of power they play with their language and social consciousness and characterizes their daily experiences without glorification.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791439821
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	10/01/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ellen Cushman is a Senior Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Notational Devices

1. The Struggle and the Tools

2. Activist Methodology

3. African Americans and Quayville

4. The Language of Eviction

5. Institutional Language in an Inner City

6. "Racism Always on the Front of My Mind"

7. "An Everyday Fight for Us to Get Simple Respect"

8. The Transfer of Language in Gatekeeping Interactions

9. Evaluating the Tools

10. "Your Honor, I Just Can't Control Him Anymore"

11. Language and Power in the Everyday

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Editorial Reviews

"This book illuminates the complex ways in which inner city residents who might easily be labeled as illiterate, in fact, have both linguistic and rhetorical strategies that are sophisticated and effective. It's a fine example of what I think of as action research." — Andrea Lunsford, The Ohio State University

From the Publisher

Explores the daily lives and language use of African-American men, women, and children living in an inner city neighborhood in the Northeast. Based on three-and-a-half years of fieldwork, the book presents the oral, literate, and analytical strategies inner city residents use to gain resources, access to social institutions, and win respect. Examines the games of power they play with language and social consciousness, explores how they manipulate the influences that institutions attempt to exercise on them, and illustrates their linguistic abilities and political insights. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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