ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that The Hobo contains only a few characteristics that are attributed to books in the Chicago tradition, and in particular those grounded in fieldwork. A long tradition has treated The Hobo as a typical monograph in the Chicago tradition. Research in the social sciences only rarely shows any continuity over an extended period of time, and yet there have been almost no attempts to compare research carried out at the beginning of a tradition and that produced at a later date after that tradition had become firmly established. Elijah Anderson thought that he worked on The Hobo as a journalist would, without following any particular method. Streetwise is mainly concerned with a theme that even a cursory glance at life in large American cities in the 1980s cannot fail to take into consideration: the relations, notably in public places, between groups distinguished by race and class.
