Book description
Why do people work hard, and take pride in what they do? This book, a
philosophically-minded enquiry into practical activity of many
different kinds past and present, is about what happens when people
try to do a good job. It asks us to think about the true meaning of
skill in the 'skills society' and argues that pure competition is a
poor way to achieve quality work. Sennett suggests, instead, that
there is a craftsman in every human being, which can sometimes be
enormously motivating and inspiring - and can also in other
circumstances make individuals obsessive and frustrated.
The Craftsman shows how history has drawn fault-lines between
craftsman and artist, maker and user, technique and expression,
practice and theory, and that individuals' pride in their work, as
well as modern society in general, suffers from these historical
divisions. But the past lives of crafts and craftsmen show us ways of
working (using tools, acquiring skills, thinking about materials)
which provide rewarding alternative ways for people to utilise their
talents. We need to recognise this if motivations are to be understood
and lives made as fulfilling as possible.
Richard Sennett's previous books include
The Fall of Public Man
,
The Corrosion of Character
,
Flesh and Stone
and
Respect
. He was founder director of the New York Institute for the Humanities,
and is now University Professor at New York University and Academic
Governor and Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.
He has won the Amalfi and Ebert prizes for sociology and in 2006 was
awarded the Hegel Prize by the City of Stuttgart.
