---
product_id: 1357480
title: "On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries)"
brand: "alice goffman"
price: "€ 42.28"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.fi/products/1357480-on-the-run-fugitive-life-in-an-american-city-fieldwork
store_origin: FI
region: Finland
---

# On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries)

**Brand:** alice goffman
**Price:** € 42.28
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries) by alice goffman
- **How much does it cost?** € 42.28 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.fi](https://www.desertcart.fi/products/1357480-on-the-run-fugitive-life-in-an-american-city-fieldwork)

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## Description

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐ 







  
  
    Would give this 0 stars if I could!
  

*by G***G on Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2019*

This book is horrible. The author calls herself a researcher while engaging in abhorrent, unethical research practices. Her focus on low-income black men who are involved in crime feels like a beleaguered stereotype. As an educated upper-class white woman, this story was not Goffman’s to tell. This book has earned her profit and credibility in her field; she has profited off of black suffering. Do not buy this book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    An excellent, excellent ethnography of a poor, black region in Philadelphia...
  

*by S***7 on Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2018*

I really was awed by this book (and am puzzled by what one reviewer (below) has written).  Goffman herself came from a privileged and educated background and chose to live for six years (on and off, but I think mostly on) in a poor, black, run-down, and drug-infested area in Philadelphia.  One of her main interests was the interaction of police and dropout males from this district.  How do children grow in unsafe environments?  What happens when there is so much policing brought into the lives of young people?  She also contrasts kids who grow up dirty and who grow up clean.  She talks about the repetitive violence from drugs and guns (and fists or baseball bats or bricks into car windows), the ties that bind these families together (or forces that stress them apart), the lives of the genders, motherhood, girlfriend-hood, and problems of being a short, pretty white girl in an entirely black area.I am no expert, but I think this will be a classic ethnography in American anthropology and sociology.There are some things that Goffman does not talk about, but these were beyond the charge of her research.  Specifically, while the presence of police brutality is documented, I was left curious about how the young police officers were inculcated into this blue culture.  What holds their "blue family" together?  What do police officers do with their fear (other than try to "take control")?  At what point of induction into being a police officer does fear and stereotypy become the motif of life?Add (9-30-18)  I did find a good book on this question:  Moskos, Peter (2008)  Cop: My year policing Baltimore's Eastern District.  Princeton Press.  Available on Amazon.  Moskos graduated from college and joined the Baltimore police force as a rookie.  He is scathing about his six-month training, which taught him nothing outside of legal strictures and how to write reports.  One of his observations is how police cars detract from getting to know a neighborhood, but all police hate foot patrolling (it is hard, no computers, no flashing lights, seen as a punishment) and thus police really do not know the people of the area.  The final chapter is "Prohibition: Al Capone's revenge," a comment on how prohibition actually makes the border between police and the people far more difficult than would legalized drugs and medical care.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    and epistemological challenges make for great discussions in class
  

*by J***N on Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2017*

While not without its problems, I've taught this book several times now in my anthropology courses. It's a compelling book. The ethical, methodological, and epistemological challenges make for great discussions in class. My biggest complaint-- by far the most interesting and thought provoking part of the book is the almost ignored methodological "note" in the back of the book. This "note" is longer than several of the chapters and is CRITICAL to the book. Why does Goffman try to hide it at the end. You must read the "note" to really understand the whole book and Goffman as an ethnographer. I hope in subsequent editions it is upgraded to chapter status and placed toward the front of the book.

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*Product available on Desertcart Finland*
*Store origin: FI*
*Last updated: 2026-02-22*