The Culture of the New Capitalism
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The Culture of the New Capitalism by Richard Sennett
The distinguished sociologist Richard Sennett here surveys major differences between earlier forms of industrial capitalism and the more global, more febrile, ever more mutable version of capitalism that is taking its place. He shows how these changes affect everyday life - how the work ethic is changing; how new beliefs about merit and talent displace old values of craftsmanship and achievement; how what Sennett calls "the spectre of uselessness' haunts professionals as well as manual workers; how the boundary between consumption and politics is dissolving. In recent years, reformers of both private and public institutions have preached that flexible, global corporations provide a model of freedom for individuals, unlike the experience of fixed and static bureaucracies Max Weber once called an "iron cage". Sennett argues that, in banishing old ills, the new-economy model has instead created new social and emotional traumas. Only a certain kind of human being can prosper in unstable, fragmentary institutions: the culture of the new capitalism demands an ideal self oriented to the short-term, focused on potential ability rather than accomplishment, willing to discount or abandon past experience. In a concluding section, Sennett examines a more durable form of self-hood, and what practical initiatives could counter the pernicious effects of 'reform'.
"Reflective, studded with sharp insights, moving with grace between big ideas and specific casesThis is vintage Sennett." Douglas W. Rae, author of City: Urbanism and Its End"
Richard Sennett teaches sociology at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the London School of Economics. His recent publications include The Corrosion of Character and Respect in a World of Inequality.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780300107821 |
| ISBN 10 | 030010782X |
| Title | The Culture of the New Capitalism |
| Author | Richard Sennett |
| Series | Castle Lectures |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Yale University Press |
| Year published | 2006-01-01 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |