Description
This little study can be summed up neatly with one quote: “The difference here is subtle but clear: dealing heroin is a social behavior with economic outcomes rather than an economic behavior with social outcomes” (108). Hoffer quite elegantly shows the ways in which drug dealing is a socially rooted practice, and how cultural and social, as well as economic capital, helped to shape the heroin dealing network he came to study. As with many ethnographies, he happened upon this subject while conducting other research, and was able to make the most out of this emergent opportunity. Hoffer is able to balance the description of both the economic and social realities, though sometimes his epidemiological training shines through as a thirst for quantification. While doubtless technology has changed the social realities of drug dealing since he conducted his fieldwork (1997-2000), this book remains a concise statement as to how social and economic change at various levels (city, social network, etc.) can affect a single drug business. The policy recommendations feel somewhat tacked on, but are as solid as the rest of the text. This book is also accessible to undergraduates early in their studies of anthropology or sociology, and shows the power of qualitative methods to illuminate social reality.
