Duneier Is a Sociologist Who

¶ … Duneier is a sociologist who spent five years writing this book, which is a study of the book and magazine street vendors of Greenwich Village in New York. Written from a conflict perspective, the book is a fascinating look into the day-to-day world of street people, and the reader discovers these black social "outcasts" may not all be what they seem to be on the outside.

In the functionalist perspective, the sociologist sees modern society as a system and attempt to identify the functions and dysfunctions of the society that make up the system. In addition, they believe members of this society share some basic core beliefs and values. It seems that author Duneier writes his book "Sidewalk" from this perspective for a number of reasons. First, the society he describes, street vendors in Greenwich Village all share certain core characteristics. They are predominately black, but that is not the important issue. They all have all effectively "dropped out" of society, yet they still maintain a certain degree of interaction with society, as demonstrated by the street philosopher Hakim Hasan, who is well read and trusted by everyone on the street. Then there is the homeless man who notes that "Architectural Digest" simply is not the same since a conglomerate publisher bought it (Duneier 153). Clearly, these people may be down-and-out according to society's standards, but in their own street society, they are accepted, and they seem to share inquisitive minds that shun corporate society to live their own, unique lives. Thus, they have core values that keep them on the streets and out of the office buildings. As one reviewer of the book notes, "But the presence of someone like Hasan, an erudite thinker who voluntarily dropped out of the formal economy to work on the street, helped Duneier understand that the world of sidewalk vending was a highly complex socioeconomic sphere with its own rules, hierarchies and sense of order" (O'Hehir). Thus, the vendors have created their own social standards and hierarchies, or their own functional perspective that works.

Second, the author's five-year study illustrates that some of the vendors indeed fit the stereotype of homeless street people who may be addicted to drugs or alcohol. However, many as he notes, are trying "to live 'better' lives within the framework of their own and society's weaknesses" (Duneier 158). Thus, just like other viable members of any society, these people are doing what they can to make ends meet and still live decent and fulfilled lives. They fill the definition of many growing and changing societies; they are just doing it in the microcosm of Greenwich Village, instead of in the boardrooms of high-powered firms. It is unmistakable that some of these vendors could certainly fit into that environment, but simply choose not to.