Today, the American study of gangs can no longer start and stop with local conditions, but must take root in a global context. Gangs are a significant worldwide phenomenon with millions of members and a voice of those marginalized by processes of globalization. Gangs are being reproduced throughout this largely urban world. In order to develop public policy and build social movements to reduce violence and erode deep-seated inequalities, it is important to understand these social actors. There is an urgent need to combine sociological and anthropological orientations with urban political economy and the analysis of gangs and other organizations of the socially excluded in the globalizing city. Gangs cannot be understood outside of their global context and there is a need to study the racialized identities of male and female gang members and the salience of culture. This article discusses six related reasons why gang research is important today: the explosion of worldwide urbanization; globalization and the retreat of the state; the power of identity (i.e. ethnic or religious); the underground economy; urban re-division of space; and the institutionalization of gangs. References