University of Texas at Austin Sociology Department
Comprehensive (Comps) Exams 2010-2011
Urban Sociology (poverty & marginality)
Day Two
You have four hours within which to answer two questions from the list of six below. Write
out the full question as written below and the number at the start of each answer.
1.
Consider the respective causal effects of social structure and culture in
the making of urban poverty. Are these effects autonomous or do structure and
culture interact? If they interact, through which specific mechanisms do they do
so to generate urban poverty?
2.
To what extent is social capital a useful tool to understand urban
poverty and marginality? What is the relationship between social, cultural, and
economic capital in the making of urban poverty?
3.
Review and evaluate Wacquant’s critique of ethnographic work on urban
poverty in the US. Describe Gowan’s position on that debate.
4.
Based on your reading of Klinenberg, Small, Duneier, and Anderson (choose
3), what can we learn about the place of “culture” in the sociology of
poverty/marginality in the U.S?
5.
Party particular attention to the work of Wilson, Massey & Denton, Davis,
Goffman, Venkatesh, and/or Wacquant (choose three), describe recent trends in the
study of poverty in the United States (segregation, incarceration, isolation,
etc.).
6.
Review recent trends in urban segregation in the United States. Explain
causes and describe some of its effects.