Craftsman theory by Richard Sennett

Richard Sennett is Centennial Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and University Professor of the Humanities at New York University. The craftsman theory is an eternal complaint of the craft communities that craft is marginalized, ignored, and simply not accepted as a subject worthy of attention by the media or critics.

The book is about perfectionist skills and the desire to do things well. When we downgrade dedication we do so at our peril, Sennett argues, in great knowledge and thought-provoking work. He says that doing a job properly takes the time it takes and that doing our own work well enables us to imagine later categories of good in general.

Sennett does is put a stake in the ground by asking rhetorically whether our commitment to work, our craftsmanship, is merely about money, or about something deeper and more human. He argues that our work commitment, the skill, the late nights, the pride and the problem solving that go into our work, is a lot more than about the money.