The Case for Working with Your Hands: Or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good - Couverture rigide

Crawford, Matthew

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0670918741 ISBN 13 : 9780670918744

Editeur : Viking, 2010

Synopsis

Why do some jobs offer fulfilment while others leave us frustrated? Why do we so often think of our working selves as separate from our 'true' selves?
Over the course of the twentieth century, we have separated mental work from manual labour, replacing the workshop with either the office cubicle or the factory line. In this inspiring and persuasive book, Matthew Crawford explores the dangers of this false distinction and presents instead the case for working with your hands. He brings to life the immense psychological and intellectual satisfactions of making and fixing things, explores the moral benefits of a technical education and, at a time when jobs are increasingly being outsourced over the internet, argues that the skilled manual trades may be one of the few sure paths to a good living. Drawing on the work of our greatest thinkers, from Aristotle to Heidegger, from Karl Marx to Iris Murdoch, as well as on his own experiences as an electrician and motorcycle mechanic, Crawford delivers a radical, timely and extremely enjoyable re-evaluation of our attitudes to work.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Matthew Crawford is a philosopher and mechanic. He has a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Chicago and served as a postdoctoral fellow on its Committee on Social Thought. Currently a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, he also runs Shockoe Moto, an independent motorcycle repair shop.

À propos de la quatrième de couverture

The inspirational New York Times bestseller and Notable Book of the Year that revolutionises our understanding of what a good working life can be

'A deep exploration of craftsmanship by someone with real hands-on knowledge. Quirky, surprising and moving' Richard Sennett

'A superb combination of testimony and reflection, and you can't put it down' Harvey Mansfield, Professor of Government at Harvard

'A masterpiece filled with surprises' Dallas Morning News

'No one who cares about the future of human work can afford to ignore this book' Jackson Lears, editor of Raritan

'A stunning indictment of the modern workplace ... Crawford points in the direction of a richer, more fulfilling way of life. This is a book that will endure' Reihan Salam, associate editor at The Atlantic

'The best self-help book that I've ever read. Kind of like Heidegger and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' Slate

'Impassioned and profound' Washington Post

Published in the USA as Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work

À propos de la deuxième de couverture

Why do some jobs offer fulfilment while others leave us frustrated? Why do we so often think of our working selves as separate from our 'true' selves?

The question of what a good job looks like - one that is both secure and worthwhile - has gained particular urgency in recent years. Over the course of the twentieth century, we have sought to separate mental work from manual labour, replacing the workshop with either the office cubicle or the factory line. Now we are facing the consequences: a generation of university graduates with worthless degrees, a society infantilised by its own technology, an economic crisis brought about in part by the detachment of office life from daily reality, a collective sense that manual work is dirty and mindless.

In this inspiring and persuasive book, Matthew Crawford explores the dangers of this false distinction between thinking and doing, and speaks up instead for an ideal that is timeless but finds little accommodation today: manual competence. He brings to life the immense satisfactions of making and fixing things and explains how work that is straightforwardly useful can also be intellectually absorbing. He explores the moral benefits of a technical education and, at a time when jobs are increasingly being outsourced over the internet, argues that the skilled manual trades may be one of the few sure paths to a good living.

Rich with anecdote and wit as well as deep learning and reflection, Crawford draws on the work of our greatest thinkers, from Aristotle to Heidegger, from Karl Marx to Iris Murdoch, as well as on his own experiences as an electrician and motorcycle mechanic, to deliver a radical, timely and extremely enjoyable re-evaluation of our attitudes to work.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Viking
• Date d'édition: 2010
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0670918741
• ISBN 13: 9780670918744
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 256
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible