That 'Every Man for Himself' Thing
The Rationales of Individualism Among the Urban Poor
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2291736 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Will Bryerton (Louisiana State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 79-102 |
| Publication date | 2016-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociological Inquiry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/soin.12102 |
| OpenAlex | W2253130573 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 29 |
Individualism is a frequently referenced but seldom inspected topic within urban poverty literature. Residents of low-income communities may internalize their social immobility by perceiving status to be determined by choices, behaviors, and psychological or moral shortcomings, but scholars generally depict such individualistic outlooks as only a byproduct of more predominant community dysfunctions. As a result, individualism-an ambiguous and confounding concept at all social strata-can assume an especially disapproving tenor when applied to the urban poor, often connoting qualities of defensiveness, ignorance, and quixotic hope. In this article, I draw from ethnographic fieldwork in Houston's Fifth Ward community to explore individualism's meanings and utility within a context of compromised prospects for positive self-determination. I explain how defensiveness against vulnerability, violence, and volatile relationships is just one rationale for individualism that is exercised alongside other, still structurally framed rationales (i.e., expressive and meritocratic) on the viability of social mobility
Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Ethnography · Ignorance · Individualism · Methodological individualism · Political science · Poverty · Sociology · Vulnerability (computing · Anthropology · Community Health and Development · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
Social Capital and Poor Communities (Ford Foundation Series on Asset Building)
Cultivating differences
Learning From Strangers
Living the Drama
Islands in the Street
Negative social capital
Bowling alone
The Truly Disadvantaged
Tally's Corner
The Minds of Marginalized Black Men
American Individualisms
Democracy in America
Reclassifying Upward Mobility
Achievement or Ascription Ideology? An Analysis of Attitudes about Future Success for Residents in Poor Urban Neighborhoods
Poor Richard's almanack
Sex Codes and Family Life among Poor Inner-city Youths
Neighborhood Inequality, Collective Efficacy, and the Spatial Dynamics of Urban Violence
Moving from Victims to Victors
Narrating Social Structure
Reconsidering Culture and Poverty
Culture in Action
When Work Disappears
When a Heart Turns Rock Solid
Ain't No Makin' It
Flat Broke with Children
Culture, Cohorts, and Social Organization Theory
| Citations per year | 0.38 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Highly cited | No |