Stacked Decks

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"Sociologist Robin Bartram here uses both ethnography and statistical analysis to show how the actions of individuals affect--or attempt to affect--housing inequality. And the individuals at the heart of this book are Chicago's building inspectors. Though we rarely see them at work, building inspectors have the power to significantly shape our lives through their discretionary decisions. Using a mixed-methods analysis of the building inspectors who respond to complaints about housing conditions in Chicago, Bartram both calls attention to the importance of these frontline workers and the power of their agency as she reveals surprising patterns in the judgment calls inspectors make when deciding whom to cite for building code violations. The inspectors (mostly men, mostly white) recognize that they work within an uneven housing landscape, one that systematically disadvantages poor people and people of color through redlining, property taxes, and city spending that favor wealthy neighborhoods. Though they often act out of a desire to bring justice to the uneven playing field by penalizing those perceived as advantaged, these stabs at justice do little to change a housing system that works against those with the fewest resources."--