Richard Sennett

Author profile

born

in Chicago, The United States

January 01, 1943

gender

male

website

http://www.richardsennett.com

genre

Nonfiction, Social Sciences

influences

John Dewey, William James,

About this author

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Richard Sennett has explored how individuals and groups make social and cultural sense of material facts -- about the cities in which they live and about the labour they do. He focuses on how people can become competent interpreters of their own experience, despite the obstacles society may put in their way. His research entails ethnography, history, and social theory. As a social analyst, Mr. Sennett continues the pragmatist tradition begun by William James and John Dewey.

His first book, The Uses of Disorder, [1970] looked at how personal identity takes form in the modern city. He then studied how working-class identities are shaped in modern society, in The Hidden Injuries of Class, written with Jonathan Cobb. [1972] A study of the public...more Richard Sennett has explored how individuals and groups make social and cultural sense of material facts -- about the cities in which they live and about the labour they do. He focuses on how people can become competent interpreters of their own experience, despite the obstacles society may put in their way. His research entails ethnography, history, and social theory. As a social analyst, Mr. Sennett continues the pragmatist tradition begun by William James and John Dewey.

His first book, The Uses of Disorder, [1970] looked at how personal identity takes form in the modern city. He then studied how working-class identities are shaped in modern society, in The Hidden Injuries of Class, written with Jonathan Cobb. [1972] A study of the public realm of cities, The Fall of Public Man, appeared in 1977; at the end of this decade of writing, Mr. Sennett sought to account the philosophic implications of this work in Authority [1980].

At this point he took a break from sociology, composing three novels: The Frog who Dared to Croak [1982], An Evening of Brahms [1984] and Palais Royal [1987]. He then returned to urban studies with two books, The Conscience of the Eye, [1990], a work focusing on urban design, and Flesh and Stone [1992], a general historical study of how bodily experience has been shaped by the evolution of cities.

In the mid 1990s, as the work-world of modern capitalism began to alter quickly and radically, Mr. Sennett began a project charting its personal consequences for workers, a project which has carried him up to the present day. The first of these studies, The Corrosion of Character, [1998] is an ethnographic account of how middle-level employees make sense of the “new economy.” The second in the series, Respect in a World of Inequality, [2002} charts the effects of new ways of working on the welfare state; a third, The Culture of the New Capitalism, [2006] provides an over-view of change. Most recently, Mr. Sennett has explored more positive aspects of labor in The Craftsman [2008], and in Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation [2012]. (less)

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Richard Sennett's Books

Average rating: 3.84 · 1,382 ratings · 170 reviews · 40 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Craftsman 3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 352 ratings — published 2008 — 16 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism 3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 265 ratings — published 1998	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fall of Public Man 4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 152 ratings — published 1977 — 18 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Culture of the New Capitalism 3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 119 ratings — published 2006 — 12 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flesh and Stone: The Body and the City in Western Civilization 4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 87 ratings — published 1996 — 11 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Respect in a World of Inequality 3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 avg rating — 73 ratings — published 2003 — 9 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hidden Injuries of Class by Richard Sennett, Jonathan Cobb 4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 1972 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Conscience of the Eye: The Design and Social Life of Cities 3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 1990 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation 3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 56 ratings — published 2011 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Uses of Disorder: Personal Identity and City Life 3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 avg rating — 43 ratings — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Richard Sennett

“To the absolutist in every craftsman, each imperfection is a failure; to the practitioner, obsession with perfection seems a perception for failure.”
― Richard Sennett, The Craftsman

2 people liked it

“Το αίσθημα του "εμείς", το οποίο εκφράζει την επιθυμία να είμαστε όμοιοι, είναι ένας τρόπος να αποφεύγουν οι άνθρωποι την ανάγκη να κοιτάξουν βαθύτερα ο ένας μέσα στον άλλον”
― Richard Sennett

tags: psychology, society, zeitgeist

2 people liked it

“There is something more here than embarrassment at being praised. The strengths 'I' have are not admissible to the arena of ability where they are socially useful; for once admitted, 'I'--my real self--would no longer have them.”
― Richard Sennett

1 person liked it

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Richard Sennett

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Quotes by Richard Sennett

combine editions
Richard Sennett's Books