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Shop Class As Soulcraft : An Inquiry into the Value of Work Hardcover - 2009 - 1st Edition
by Matthew B. Crawford
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
In this wise and often funny book, a philosopher/mechanic systematically destroys the pretensions of the high-prestige workplace and makes an irresistible case for working with one's hands.
Description
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Details
- Title Shop Class As Soulcraft : An Inquiry into the Value of Work
- Author Matthew B. Crawford
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition number 1st
- Edition 1
- Condition Used - Very Good
- Pages 256
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Penguin Publishing Group, New York
- Date 2009
- Illustrated Yes
- Features Bibliography, Dust Cover, Illustrated, Index, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
- Bookseller's Inventory # G1594202230I4N00
- ISBN 9781594202230 / 1594202230
- Weight 0.85 lbs (0.39 kg)
- Dimensions 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 in (21.08 x 14.22 x 2.54 cm)
- Ages 18 to UP years
- Grade levels 13 - UP
- Library of Congress subjects Work, Industrial arts
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 2009001789
- Dewey Decimal Code 331
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Summary
A philosopher / mechanic destroys the pretensions of the high- prestige workplace and makes an irresistible case for working with one's hands
Shop Class as Soulcraft brings alive an experience that was once quite common, but now seems to be receding from society-the experience of making and fixing things with our hands. Those of us who sit in an office often feel a lack of connection to the material world, a sense of loss, and find it difficult to say exactly what we do all day. For anyone who felt hustled off to college, then to the cubicle, against their own inclinations and natural bents, Shop Class as Soulcraft seeks to restore the honor of the manual trades as a life worth choosing.
On both economic and psychological grounds, Crawford questions the educational imperative of turning everyone into a "knowledge worker," based on a misguided separation of thinking from doing, the work of the hand from that of the mind. Crawford shows us how such a partition, which began a century ago with the assembly line, degrades work for those on both sides of the divide.
But Crawford offers good news as well: the manual trades are very different from the assembly line, and from dumbed-down white collar work as well. They require careful thinking and are punctuated by moments of genuine pleasure. Based on his own experience as an electrician and mechanic, Crawford makes a case for the intrinsic satisfactions and cognitive challenges of manual work. The work of builders and mechanics is secure; it cannot be outsourced, and it cannot be made obsolete. Such work ties us to the local communities in which we live, and instills the pride that comes from doing work that is genuinely useful. A wholly original debut, Shop Class as Soulcraft offers a passionate call for self-reliance and a moving reflection on how we can live concretely in an ever more abstract world.
Shop Class as Soulcraft brings alive an experience that was once quite common, but now seems to be receding from society-the experience of making and fixing things with our hands. Those of us who sit in an office often feel a lack of connection to the material world, a sense of loss, and find it difficult to say exactly what we do all day. For anyone who felt hustled off to college, then to the cubicle, against their own inclinations and natural bents, Shop Class as Soulcraft seeks to restore the honor of the manual trades as a life worth choosing.
On both economic and psychological grounds, Crawford questions the educational imperative of turning everyone into a "knowledge worker," based on a misguided separation of thinking from doing, the work of the hand from that of the mind. Crawford shows us how such a partition, which began a century ago with the assembly line, degrades work for those on both sides of the divide.
But Crawford offers good news as well: the manual trades are very different from the assembly line, and from dumbed-down white collar work as well. They require careful thinking and are punctuated by moments of genuine pleasure. Based on his own experience as an electrician and mechanic, Crawford makes a case for the intrinsic satisfactions and cognitive challenges of manual work. The work of builders and mechanics is secure; it cannot be outsourced, and it cannot be made obsolete. Such work ties us to the local communities in which we live, and instills the pride that comes from doing work that is genuinely useful. A wholly original debut, Shop Class as Soulcraft offers a passionate call for self-reliance and a moving reflection on how we can live concretely in an ever more abstract world.
From the publisher
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Citations
- Chronicle of Higher Education, 04/17/2015, Page 6
- Entertainment Weekly, 06/05/2009, Page 62
- Library Journal, 05/01/2009, Page 94
- Library Journal Prepub Alert, 02/15/2009, Page 88
- Men's Journal, 12/01/2009, Page 112
- New York Times Book Review, 06/07/2009, Page 15
- New Yorker (The), 06/22/2009, Page 83
- NY Times Notable Bks of Year, 12/06/2009, Page 22
- Publishers Weekly, 04/20/2009, Page 45
- Publishers Weekly Best Books, 11/02/2009, Page 23
- Time, 06/08/2009, Page 18