The Craftsman (book)

The Craftsman

First edition
Author	Richard Sennett
Published	2008 (Yale University Press)
Pages	326
ISBN	9780300119091
LC Class	BJ1498 .S46X 2008

The Craftsman is a book by Richard Sennett about craftmanship and its importance to individuals and society.

Synopses

The book is divided into a prologue, ten chapters split over three parts, and a conclusion. Sennett argues that the spirit of craftmanship involves the "desire to do a job well for its own sake". For Sennett, people motivated purely by material rewards or competition do not tend to produce as good work as those motivated by a sense of craftmanship. The author also argues that being able to participate in craftmanship - as opposed to mere labour, or even to cerebral activity - is good for people's well-being. He tracks the waxing and waning of the craftmanship ethos across history. In the conclusion, Sennett states that the book was written to counter the dim view of manual work arising from the influential Hannah Arendt.

References

• Bamforth, Iain (September 1, 2010). "Book reviews: THE CRAFTSMAN". The British Journal of General Practice. 60 (578): 702–703. doi:10.3399/bjgp10X515584. ISSN 0960-1643. PMC 2930238.
• Cooper, Emmanuel (November 2008). "Rev. of The Craftsman". The Journal of Modern Craft. 1 (3): 435–. doi:10.2752/174967808x379515. ISSN 1749-6772. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
• Curtis, Wayne (2008). "The Art of Doing: Let's give our hands a great big hand". The American Scholar. 77 (2). Richard Sennett (ed.): 128–131. ISSN 0003-0937. JSTOR 41222742.
• Darley, Gillian (2008). "Hope in honest error: Richard Senett has written an inspiring account of the true importance of craft skills in society". Apollo. Vol. 168, no. 556. pp. 126–. ISSN 0003-6536. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
• Goldfarb, Jeffrey C.; Sennett, Richard (2009). "Review of The Craftsman, Richard Sennett". American Journal of Sociology. 115 (1): 265–267. doi:10.1086/605737. ISSN 0002-9602. JSTOR 10.1086/605737.
• Guttenplan, D.D. (May 16, 2008). "Routine glories". The Times Literary Supplement (5485): 13. ISSN 0307-661X. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
• Hyde, Lewis (April 6, 2008). "The Craftsman - Richard Sennett - Book Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
• Kaufman, Jason (March 2009). "The Hidden Injuries of Work". Contemporary Sociology. 38 (2): 115–117. doi:10.1177/009430610903800203. ISSN 0094-3061. JSTOR 20617192.
• Lorenz, Stephan (2010). "Review Essay: Science as Craft". Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 11 (2). ISSN 1438-5627. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
• MacCarthy, Fiona (February 9, 2008). "Review: The Craftsman by Richard Sennet". the Guardian. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
• Matiaske, Wenzel; Sennett, Richard (2008). "Review of The Craftsman". Management Revue. 19 (1/2): 148–150. doi:10.5771/0935-9915-2008-1-2-148. ISSN 0935-9915. JSTOR 41783576.
• Richards, William (December 2008). "Rev. of The Craftsman". Architectural Record. Vol. 196, no. 12. p. 52. ISSN 0003-858X. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
• Tester, Keith (March 6, 2008). "Rev. of The Craftsman". Times Higher Education (1835): 44–45. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
• "Nonfiction Book Review: The Craftsman by Richard Sennett, Author Yale University Press $27.5 (326p) ISBN 978-0-300-11909-1". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved May 10, 2016.