Editing Underclass (section)

===Focus on space and place===
The underclass generally occupies specific zones in the city. Thus, the notion of an underclass is popular in [[urban sociology|Urban Sociology]], and particularly in accounts of urban poverty. The term, ''underclass'', and the phrase, ''urban underclass'', are, for the most part, used interchangeably.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Marks|first=Carole|title=The Urban Underclass|journal=Annual Review of Sociology|year=1991|volume=17|pages=445–466|jstor=2083350|doi=10.1146/annurev.soc.17.1.445}}</ref>  Studies concerning the post-civil rights African American [[ghetto]] often include a discussion of the urban underclass. Many writings concerning the underclass, particularly in the U.S., are urban-focused.

[[William Julius Wilson|William Julius Wilson's]] books,'' The Declining Significance of Race'' (1978)<ref name="DeclSig">{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=William Julius|title=The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions|year=1978|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|isbn=0-226-90129-7|url=https://archive.org/details/decliningsignifi00wils}}</ref> and ''The Truly Disadvantaged'' (1987),<ref name="TDA">{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=William Julius|title=The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy|year=1987|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|isbn=0-226-90131-9|url=https://archive.org/details/trulydisadvantag00wilsrich}}</ref> are popular accounts of the black urban underclass. Wilson defines the underclass as "a massive population at the very bottom of the social ladder plagued by poor education and low-paying jobs."<ref name="DeclSig"/> He generally limits his discussion to those trapped in the post-civil-rights [[ghetto]] in the American [[rust belt]] (see "Potential Causes and Proposed Solutions" section of this entry for a more detailed summary of Wilson on the underclass).

[[Elijah Anderson (sociologist)|Elijah Anderson's]], ''Streetwise'' (1990),<ref name="Streetwise">{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Elijah|title=Streetwise: Race, Class, and Change in an Urban Community|url=https://archive.org/details/streetwiseracecl0000ande|url-access=registration|year=1990|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|isbn=0-226-01816-4}}</ref> employs [[Ethnography|ethnographic methods]] to study a [[gentrifying]] neighborhood, "The Village" (pseudonym), bordering a black ghetto, "Northton" (pseudonym), in an American city. Anderson provides the following description of the underclass in this ghetto:

{{quote|The underclass of Northton is made up of people who have failed to keep up with their brethren, both in employment and sociability. Essentially they can be seen as victims of the economic and social system. They make up the unemployed, the underskilled, and the poorly educated, even though some hold high-school diplomas. Many are intelligent, but they are demoralized by racism and the wall of social resistance facing them. In this context they lose perspective and lack an outlook and sensibility that would allow them to negotiate the wider system of employment and society in general.<ref name="Streetwise"/>}}