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Invisible in Austin: Life and Labor in an American City
Austin, Texas, is renowned as a high-tech, fast-growing city for the young and creative, a cool place to live, and the scene of internationally famous events such as SXSW and Formula 1. But as in many American cities, poverty and penury are booming along with wealth and material abundance in contemporary Austin. Rich and poor residents lead increasingly separate lives as growing socioeconomic inequality underscores residential, class, racial, and ethnic segregation.
In Invisible in Austin, the award-winning sociologist Javier Auyero and a team of graduate students explore the lives of those working at the bottom of the social order: house cleaners, office-machine repairers, cab drivers, restaurant cooks and dishwashers, exotic dancers, musicians, and roofers, among others. Recounting their subjects’ life stories with empathy and sociological insight, the authors show us how these lives are driven by a complex mix of individual and social forces. These poignant stories compel us to see how poor people who provide indispensable services for all city residents struggle daily with substandard housing, inadequate public services and schools, and environmental risks. Timely and essential reading, Invisible in Austin makes visible the growing gap between rich and poor that is reconfiguring the cityscape of one of America’s most dynamic places, as low-wage workers are forced to the social and symbolic margins.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2015
20 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 10, 2018
I discovered this book on display at the Austin Public Library at the new central library on opening day, and I'm so glad I decided to check it out. It's one of the best books I've read in a while, and gave me a very different perspective on life in this city. It is part of what has inspired me to become more involved in community activism, and social justice.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned with issues of gentrification, economic polarization, social justice, and racial inequality. This sociological study is so well written, telling the stories of 12 people from Austin whose lives are impacted by these issues.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned with issues of gentrification, economic polarization, social justice, and racial inequality. This sociological study is so well written, telling the stories of 12 people from Austin whose lives are impacted by these issues.
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March 4, 2022Read this for class but don’t want to forget it because it rocks
September 5, 2022
Among the "hipness, creativity, and tolerance" Austin there are tens of thousands of invisible lives. From a Nepalise cab driver working far below his educational background, to a Manager at the W struggling with drug addiction, to a Dreamer advocating for workers rights while an undergrad at UT, the stories told in this book make some of Austin's invisible lives more visible. Like good sociological texts, the stories add context to this community's narrative, especially the impact of social structures on some of the most vulnerable who live here. As an educator working to close the achievement gap for under-served students and their families, after reading this book I am reminded that the efforts of these individuals to overcome vulnerability are extricable tied to the struggle of our own community at IDEA Public Schools.
November 19, 2015
Invisible in Austin is unmistakably a labor of love. The side-project of University of Texas sociology professor Javier Auyero and 12 graduate students, Invisible in Austin required enormous sacrifice from all involved. Countless hours immersing themselves in the lives of strangers, all carved out of personal time, and even more spent grappling to understand what they had learned. Countless night meetings (some more congenial than others) trying to mold each of their scattershot observations into a cohesive whole over several months. Auyero himself doubted whether Invisible in Austin would ever see the light of day. But, moved by their subjects and united in their desire to lift the veil obscuring Austin’s marginalized populations, the team persevered. Finally published in September of 2015, Invisible in Austin revolves around that very central concept: lifting the veil. It offers readers a sobering glimpse into the lives of 11 real-life Austinites (one per student, one per chapter) who challenge the rose-tinted public view of the city. By lifting the veil between the reader and those less fortunate living alongside them, Invisible in Austin forces one to confront the stark inequality and economic segregation that is all too often conveniently hidden from view. From the plight of an undocumented immigrant to the desperation of a sex worker, Auyero and company illuminate a cross-section of the invisible lives at the bottom of the city’s social structure one-by-one. As the reader progresses through the book, Auyero hopes they will begin to consider not only “the suffering they usually do not see in their midst” but also the “structural causes” of such misfortune. The overwhelming consensus of critics, both inside and outside the academic sphere, is that Invisible in Austin accomplishes its mission – and more. The very concept of the experiment received some loud criticism from within the team’s own department, but the final published product has been praised by Kirkus Reviews as “engaging and accessible…conducted with dignity and thoroughness” while Publishers Weekly writes that the “lucid and empathetic” essays “reveal how life histories are intertwined with political and economic forces beyond any individual’s control.” USC’s Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo even goes as far as to congratulate Invisible in Austin for “keeping alive the promise of the sociological imagination.” In the two months since its publication, Invisible in Austin has been featured in The Austin-American Statesman and The Texas Observer and accumulated a perfect 5.0 average from a total of seven ratings on Amazon and Goodreads.
While there are valid concerns with the methodologies utilized by the authors, I agree with most reviewers in affirming that Invisible in Austin is an eye-opening experience that achieves its goal of “lifting the veil” and revealing the unpleasant truths of my city – of many cities – with incisive clarity. It does so through two main lenses, reflected by the extended title: Life and Labor in an American City. The complex issues presented in each chapter tend to cluster into two primary categories: the life of the subject, and their labor. As Publishers Weekly testifies, Auyero and his students do a remarkable job of reflecting through both lenses and, ultimately, displaying how the two, life and labor, are inseparably intertwined.
Coming from a background in journalism, I was immediately intrigued by Invisible in Austin’s storytelling format. The idea of compiling several unique life stories, essentially in-depth feature stories, to tell one larger story around a central theme is…ambitious and exciting. However, some revelations on the methodology of the study that came to light during the November 5 panel did cast some doubt on just how accurate of portraits these chapters really are. Chief among these is the fact that the authors became such good friends with their subjects and allowed them to read and edit the manuscripts. Perhaps it is just my inner journalist shaking his fist, but I feel this choice somewhat compromises the writers’ abilities to retain control of their work and remain unbiased in their portrayals. Sometimes, the truth that needs to convey is not one that the subject will like. As a reporter, which is essentially what the authors are here, your duty is to the truth as you see it and not to please people. I was further still off-put by how the overarching themes of the book seemed to be predetermined before anyone even got into the field to see what was really going on. Instead of drawing conclusions from their independent observations, the authors may have allowed their desired conclusions to frame their observations. For example, Katherine Jensen admitted to altering her chapter to tone down Kumar’s racial prejudices after realizing that it made him less sympathetic and therefore less useful to the predetermined mission of Invisible in Austin. Since they are sociologists and ethnographers (rather than trained reporters) with strong passions, this liability is neither surprising nor unforgivable.
Where Invisible in Austin really thrives is its ability to capture a life. With each chapter, I turned the final page feeling as if I truly knew the person being described. This human element is the magic ingredient of the project. It is what separates it from the thousands of sociology essays on the urban poor and makes it so “engaging and accessible”, as Kirkus states. This “Life” lens includes many aspects of each character: their background, their moral compass and worldview, their emotions and relationships. From how Raven experiences love and affirmation coming from an abusive household to how Ella spreads hope in a dilapidated neighborhood by mentoring teenage boys, the reader is given a very clear picture of what motivates each character and why they behave the way they do. As a white man, it was shocking to read how Kumar will tell passengers that he is from Iraq because “they are scared of Iraqi, never Nepalese” (150) and it is better to feared and respected than liked. For some immigrants, you can’t have both. That awakened me to certain luxuries afforded to me in even my most minute of behaviors and not to others in this society. The richly detailed focus on each character’s life and core being also allows us to see pieces of ourselves in them. They are not just numbers, stats or buzzwords. As Auyero reminded us at the panel, even society’s most-maligned represent “a full range of thoughts, emotions and complexities” that are “all too often reduced to one trait” that defines them. Invisible in Austin is able to bring this crucial point into focus thanks to its exhaustive examination of how each character lives and sees their own life. As someone who grew up in constant comfort, it’s easy to see the less fortunate as being somehow fundamentally different or lesser than me – to put a veil between myself and their humanity. But once again, Invisible in Austin forces me to lift this veil and consider how I myself would’ve fared in all eleven life paths shown.
The “life histories” represented in Invisible in Austin “are intertwined with political and economic forces”, as Publishers Weekly writes in its review. I am in complete agreement, as I feel that Labor is an equal and overlapping lens to Life throughout the novel, as reflected by the title. After all, it is the nature of one’s labor (and opportunities thereof) that shapes one’s place in society and the possible outcomes in Life. This “Labor” lens includes many aspects of one’s work: its dignity, its autonomy, its pay and the interconnectedness of all types of labor in the greater Austin economy. During the panel discussion, Jensen stressed that the authors really wanted to impress upon people that Kumar is just as much Austin as the wealthy college kids he drives downtown, that Ethan is just as much Austin as the hi-tech businessmen who stay at his hotel, and so on. That everyone in this city is interconnected – there is no “other side”. That the backbone of workers we depend on is increasingly suffering and increasingly disadvantaged. Publishers Weekly says the book accomplishes this overarching goal (illuminating structural causes of suffering) in its approach to Labor, praising the stark picture of a hip city whose “reputation belies its worsening income inequality” due to things like “the rise of the service economy, the dismantling of the social safety net and the decline of unions.” I wholeheartedly agree. What really struck me was how few options people like Raven “who live on the precarious edge between morally-respectable, low-paying work and immoral but highly-paid work” (136) really have. I have felt an abundance of career options, at times paralyzed by indecision with so many paths open to me in life. Witnessing how Raven teeters on the brink between labor choices “both degrading in their own ways” (136) was simultaneously heartbreaking and enlightening. How is it that someone so well-intentioned and so full of life is perpetually stuck in sex labor? What is wrong with our system to make this the norm? Why is it impossible for people like Chip and Santos and Clarissa to get ahead through meaningful work? These are the questions I was asking myself throughout Invisible in Austin…exactly the questions the authors intended. It is easy to blame the marginalized for their place in society, but after vicariously experiencing the intimacies of their lives and the toils of their labor through this book, it becomes obvious that there are forces beyond their control reinforcing the cycle.
Invisible in Austin is a book that makes me proud of my university. Despite some potential cracks in the structural foundations, it stands tall thanks to the compelling lives of the 11 subjects and the expertise of Auyero and company in making them so brutally relatable, both in their life and their labor. A colorful patchwork of forgotten faces that represent the real Austin, it has permanently altered how I view and interact with people different from me in my everyday life. It has lifted my veil.
While there are valid concerns with the methodologies utilized by the authors, I agree with most reviewers in affirming that Invisible in Austin is an eye-opening experience that achieves its goal of “lifting the veil” and revealing the unpleasant truths of my city – of many cities – with incisive clarity. It does so through two main lenses, reflected by the extended title: Life and Labor in an American City. The complex issues presented in each chapter tend to cluster into two primary categories: the life of the subject, and their labor. As Publishers Weekly testifies, Auyero and his students do a remarkable job of reflecting through both lenses and, ultimately, displaying how the two, life and labor, are inseparably intertwined.
Coming from a background in journalism, I was immediately intrigued by Invisible in Austin’s storytelling format. The idea of compiling several unique life stories, essentially in-depth feature stories, to tell one larger story around a central theme is…ambitious and exciting. However, some revelations on the methodology of the study that came to light during the November 5 panel did cast some doubt on just how accurate of portraits these chapters really are. Chief among these is the fact that the authors became such good friends with their subjects and allowed them to read and edit the manuscripts. Perhaps it is just my inner journalist shaking his fist, but I feel this choice somewhat compromises the writers’ abilities to retain control of their work and remain unbiased in their portrayals. Sometimes, the truth that needs to convey is not one that the subject will like. As a reporter, which is essentially what the authors are here, your duty is to the truth as you see it and not to please people. I was further still off-put by how the overarching themes of the book seemed to be predetermined before anyone even got into the field to see what was really going on. Instead of drawing conclusions from their independent observations, the authors may have allowed their desired conclusions to frame their observations. For example, Katherine Jensen admitted to altering her chapter to tone down Kumar’s racial prejudices after realizing that it made him less sympathetic and therefore less useful to the predetermined mission of Invisible in Austin. Since they are sociologists and ethnographers (rather than trained reporters) with strong passions, this liability is neither surprising nor unforgivable.
Where Invisible in Austin really thrives is its ability to capture a life. With each chapter, I turned the final page feeling as if I truly knew the person being described. This human element is the magic ingredient of the project. It is what separates it from the thousands of sociology essays on the urban poor and makes it so “engaging and accessible”, as Kirkus states. This “Life” lens includes many aspects of each character: their background, their moral compass and worldview, their emotions and relationships. From how Raven experiences love and affirmation coming from an abusive household to how Ella spreads hope in a dilapidated neighborhood by mentoring teenage boys, the reader is given a very clear picture of what motivates each character and why they behave the way they do. As a white man, it was shocking to read how Kumar will tell passengers that he is from Iraq because “they are scared of Iraqi, never Nepalese” (150) and it is better to feared and respected than liked. For some immigrants, you can’t have both. That awakened me to certain luxuries afforded to me in even my most minute of behaviors and not to others in this society. The richly detailed focus on each character’s life and core being also allows us to see pieces of ourselves in them. They are not just numbers, stats or buzzwords. As Auyero reminded us at the panel, even society’s most-maligned represent “a full range of thoughts, emotions and complexities” that are “all too often reduced to one trait” that defines them. Invisible in Austin is able to bring this crucial point into focus thanks to its exhaustive examination of how each character lives and sees their own life. As someone who grew up in constant comfort, it’s easy to see the less fortunate as being somehow fundamentally different or lesser than me – to put a veil between myself and their humanity. But once again, Invisible in Austin forces me to lift this veil and consider how I myself would’ve fared in all eleven life paths shown.
The “life histories” represented in Invisible in Austin “are intertwined with political and economic forces”, as Publishers Weekly writes in its review. I am in complete agreement, as I feel that Labor is an equal and overlapping lens to Life throughout the novel, as reflected by the title. After all, it is the nature of one’s labor (and opportunities thereof) that shapes one’s place in society and the possible outcomes in Life. This “Labor” lens includes many aspects of one’s work: its dignity, its autonomy, its pay and the interconnectedness of all types of labor in the greater Austin economy. During the panel discussion, Jensen stressed that the authors really wanted to impress upon people that Kumar is just as much Austin as the wealthy college kids he drives downtown, that Ethan is just as much Austin as the hi-tech businessmen who stay at his hotel, and so on. That everyone in this city is interconnected – there is no “other side”. That the backbone of workers we depend on is increasingly suffering and increasingly disadvantaged. Publishers Weekly says the book accomplishes this overarching goal (illuminating structural causes of suffering) in its approach to Labor, praising the stark picture of a hip city whose “reputation belies its worsening income inequality” due to things like “the rise of the service economy, the dismantling of the social safety net and the decline of unions.” I wholeheartedly agree. What really struck me was how few options people like Raven “who live on the precarious edge between morally-respectable, low-paying work and immoral but highly-paid work” (136) really have. I have felt an abundance of career options, at times paralyzed by indecision with so many paths open to me in life. Witnessing how Raven teeters on the brink between labor choices “both degrading in their own ways” (136) was simultaneously heartbreaking and enlightening. How is it that someone so well-intentioned and so full of life is perpetually stuck in sex labor? What is wrong with our system to make this the norm? Why is it impossible for people like Chip and Santos and Clarissa to get ahead through meaningful work? These are the questions I was asking myself throughout Invisible in Austin…exactly the questions the authors intended. It is easy to blame the marginalized for their place in society, but after vicariously experiencing the intimacies of their lives and the toils of their labor through this book, it becomes obvious that there are forces beyond their control reinforcing the cycle.
Invisible in Austin is a book that makes me proud of my university. Despite some potential cracks in the structural foundations, it stands tall thanks to the compelling lives of the 11 subjects and the expertise of Auyero and company in making them so brutally relatable, both in their life and their labor. A colorful patchwork of forgotten faces that represent the real Austin, it has permanently altered how I view and interact with people different from me in my everyday life. It has lifted my veil.
June 11, 2018
Invisible in Austin: Life and Labor in an American City was chosen as a 2018 KUT Book Club selection. Compiled as a University of Texas project, this book delves into the lives of people who are struggling to make a living in Austin. Each chapter focuses on a single person, including a repairman, a musician, a Dreamer student, a single Latina mother, an exotic dancer, and others. These chapters are bookended by an introduction and a conclusion. This is a thought-provoking look at the high costs—-both financial and emotional—-of living in Austin and how past and present city policies impact our less-fortunate residents.
February 22, 2018
Part "Humans of Austin," part sociological study, this book tells the story of 10 individuals belonging to Austin's lower class in an attempt to honestly express their realities, later discussing the societal barriers and institutions in place that have contributed to their position on the social ladder. I read the novel as part of a course on The Politics of Poverty, but definitely found it interesting beyond its academic value as a graduate research work!
April 6, 2018
I picked up this book because it's the latest selection of the online book club of Austin's local NPR station, which aims to provide selections based in our city. I appreciate the content of this book and learned a bit about the underprivileged/marginalized population in Austin, but I didn't love the book. You can tell it was written in an academic context - it reads somewhat like a thesis (but better). I wish Goodreads let us give 1/2 stars. This one is 3.5 stars for me.
October 2, 2020
I really enjoyed this book, being that I’m an Austin admirer. The life stories in this book are what true Austinites are made of: self-made, some hippy, some business, but always fun and classy. It’s long gone in Austin but I’m hopeful a good sweeping, dusting, and vacuuming would bring back what we all loved about Austin.
February 7, 2021
Some chapters are more interesting than others, but I think that this is a recommended read for anyone living in Austin.
December 2, 2021
3.5 - for school, the urban perspectives in development course, starts nice but became slightly repetitive and a tad brining but maybe it’s just the school context
August 19, 2016
Very informative account of how precarious the lives of many people living in Austin, Texas and I'm sure many other major American cities are. Undocumented immigrants like Santos and Xiamora live in fear of being deported back to Mexico. The lives of the twelve people followed and interviewed are filled with grotesque injustice. Ella is harassed for being African-American at her job as a plumber, Santos has a winning lottery ticket but because he cannot speak English the clerk takes advantage of him and steals it, Xiamora and her husband cannot own property as undocumented immigrants. On several occasions Xiamora's wages are stolen. Just some examples of the infuriating duplicity they endure. After reading Invisible in Austin it is apparent that there are severe structural causes of this abyss of misery. Poverty is ever present. People must endure incredibly degrading working conditions just to survive where there is no safety net. All of the power is in the hands of white, wealthy people. It doesn't have to be this way forever. The United States should give everyone a universal basic income, invest in poorer people's education, stop gentrification, and grant undocumented people amnesty.
June 26, 2016
This is a very timely collection of sociological profiles of 12 Austin residents living in the margins, and in the shadow of the prosperity that draws thousands of people here every year. As an Austin resident myself, I was impressed by how the contributors to this book highlighted the precarious situations these people navigate daily. The range from homelessness, addiction, chronic underemployment, health concerns, and immigration status provided a thought-provoking glimpse into a rarely seen side of this rapidly growing city.
I was impressed that this project grew out of a seminar class. The standout chapters for me were the profiles of Clarissa, Manuel, Raven, Xiomara and Kumar, which I felt engaged the most with the individual being profiled and managed a fairly complete portrait ranging from biography, a sociological context, and psychological view giving a good sense of each individual's motivations. The first chapter, which runs through a brief yet illuminating sociohistorical survey of marginalized populations provides a valuable context, laying the foundation for the humane profiles that follow.
http://www.othersidesofaustin.com/
I was impressed that this project grew out of a seminar class. The standout chapters for me were the profiles of Clarissa, Manuel, Raven, Xiomara and Kumar, which I felt engaged the most with the individual being profiled and managed a fairly complete portrait ranging from biography, a sociological context, and psychological view giving a good sense of each individual's motivations. The first chapter, which runs through a brief yet illuminating sociohistorical survey of marginalized populations provides a valuable context, laying the foundation for the humane profiles that follow.
http://www.othersidesofaustin.com/
February 10, 2017
This is an insightful look at 12 people in Austin, all of whom are living on the edge. Extensive interviews were done by sociologists who were studying individuals who had become "invisible" and at a disadvantage. Should make for an interesting book club discussion.
November 14, 2015
It's not a perfectly written book by any stretch, but it prompted me to think and question more than anything I've read recently. I think this line in the introduction sums it up perfectly: "We want readers to start seeing the city we all love (or any other American city, for that matter) in a different light, so that the next time they encounter or read a story about a Xiomara cleaning homes with dangerous chemicals, a Clarissa losing her home, a Kumar being harassed in his cab, a Manuel being deported, an Ethan going to jail, a Santos fixing roofs and mowing lawns, a Chip working hard to keep a job he has trouble performing, a Keith struggling to pay the bills, a Raven overdosing or being raped, an Ella doing community work, or an Inés worrying about her daughter's school, they reflect back not only on the particularities of each story but on the contexts that have produced them." Mission accomplished.
March 31, 2016
An interesting look into the varied lives of people who live and work in Austin, people who are easy to overlook because of their circumstances.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews