The roots of a modern tragedy are exposed. Today's workplace is not
what it once was. Gone are the days of corporate loyalty and
rewarding seniority found in the immediate post-WWII work
environment. Today the rapidity of change impedes attempts to even
describe the contemporary norm, and when dynamism becomes normal,
Sennett (Flesh and Stone, 1994, etc.; Sociology/New York Univ.)
worries about the impact the new workplace has on the people who
work there. The belief that work is closely related to character
has deep roots in Western society, and in an era where capitalism
is evolving far more rapidly than human beings, there is good
reason to worry. That a capitalist economy involves change, or
uncertainty, or risk, is nothing new. Entrepreneurs have long
driven the economy forward, in part, by embracing these conditions
as the cost of potentially realizing large rewards. Today, however,
conscious risk-takers have no monopoly on uncertainty; it's "woven
into the everyday practices of a vigorous capitalism," and risk has
become "a daily necessity shouldered by the masses." Through
interviews, observations, and statistics set against the background
of a similar study undertaken 25 years ago, Sennett captures the
tension this creates between contemporary work and human life. What
is the place of commitment, sacrifice, caring for others, and
looking beyond immediate personal satisfaction when work requires
setting such archaic notions aside? In essence, there is a
dissonance over time. The constancy associated with good character
is directly at odds with the realities of the contemporary
workplace: "the conditions of time in the new capitalism . . .
[threaten] the ability of people to form their characters into
sustained narratives." Sennett is no Luddite, but this deeply
provacative essay exposes the continuing human cost of progress. A
depressingly perceptive analysis. (Kirkus Reviews)
In The Corrosion of Character, Richard Sennett, "among the
country's most distinguished thinkers . . . has concentrated into
176 pages a profoundly affecting argument" (Business Week) that
draws on interviews with dismissed IBM executives, bakers, a
bartender turned advertising executive, and many others to call
into question the terms of our new economy. In his 1972 classic,
The Hidden Injuries of Class (written with Jonathan Cobb), Sennett
interviewed a man he called Enrico, a hardworking janitor whose
life was structured by a union pay schedule and given meaning by
his sacrifices for the future. In this new book-a #1 bestseller in
Germany-Sennett explores the contemporary scene characterized by
Enrico's son, Rico, whose life is more materially successful, yet
whose work lacks long-term commitments or loyalties. Distinguished
by Sennett's "combination of broad historical and literary learning
and a reporter's willingness to walk into a store or factory [and]
strike up a conversation" (New York Times Book Review), this book
"challenges the reader to decide whether the flexibility of modern
capitalism . . . is merely a fresh form of oppression" (Publishers
Weekly, starred review). Praise for The Corrosion of Character: "A
benchmark for our time."-Daniel Bell "[A]n incredibly insightful
book."-William Julius Wilson "[A] remarkable synthesis of acute
empirical observation and serious moral reflection."-Richard Rorty
"[Sennett] offers abundant fresh insights . . . illuminated by his
concern with people's struggle to give meaning to their
lives."-[Memphis] Commercial Appeal
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