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(Feb 12, 2008 at  the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (RSA))

Chaired by Duncan Campbell, senior correspondent, The Guardian

Sudhir Venkatesh's book, Gang Leader for a Day: A rogue sociologist crosses the line, is about how he befriended members of one of the hardest crack dealing gangs in Chicago in order to produce sociological research that the academic world had never managed to obtain before. He followed the gang (the Black Kings) for the best part of ten years and gives a frank, accessible account of what he learnt. He witnesses drive-by shootings, drug dealers, gun crime, prostitution but also a community spirit in the face of poverty and the inner workings of gang culture from the leader down to the "shorties" (foot soldiers).