Why do people work hard, and take pride in what they do? This book discusses about what happens when people try to do a good job. It asks us to think about the true meaning of skill in the 'skills society' and argues that pure competition is a poor way to achieve quality work.

Why do people work hard, and take pride in what they do? This book, a philosophically-minded enquiry into practical activity of many different kinds past and present, is about what happens when people try to do a good job. It asks us to think about the true meaning of skill in the 'skills society' and argues that pure competition is a poor way to achieve quality work. Sennett suggests, instead, th

Focusing on clothing, bodily deportment, sex roles, sexual practices, and political rhetoric as forms of fashion, this work bounds across two thousand years of history, showing how the evolution of fashion from an upper-class privilege into a vehicle of popular expression closely follows the rise of democratic values.

Argues that the barrier between public and private realms has been eroded, and that this breakdown is so profound that public man has been left with no certain idea of his role in society. This book places this argument in its historical perspective through an analysis of the changes in our built environment since 18th century.

Examines the forces that erode respect in modern society. This book argues that many who are not able to achieve the demands of meritocracy lose the esteem that should be given to them. It explores the ways in which mutual respect can forge bonds across the divide of inequality.

This work describes, explains and warns Europe against following the road alreadly taken by the US and, perhaps not quite irreversibly, Britain by providing an account of life in high-risk, low-loyalty workplaces.

Traditionally, suicide was thought to be a matter of purely individual despair, but Durkheim recognized that the phenomenon had a social dimension. He believed that if anything can explain how individuals relate to society, then it is suicide. This work was the result of his research.

First published in 1970, this work followed the student and urban rebellions of the late 1960s. It considers the response to the book over those years, and relates it to the circumstances faced by the inhabitants of cities in the twenty-first century.

Looks at the ways the global form of capitalism affects our lives. This book analyzes how changes in work ethic, in our attitudes toward merit and talent, and in public and private institutions contributes to 'the spectre of uselessness'. It concludes with suggestions to counter this disturbing culture.

Seeks to revitalize the field of cultural sociology with an emphasis not on abstract theoretical debates but on showing how to put theoretical sources to work in empirical research. This book offers an empirical case study of how culture works in practice and how practice makes and remakes culture. It is of interest to students of cultural theory.

14 essays cover cities in United States, Canada, England, France, and Columbia. Contributors include Norman Birnbaum, Stuart Blumin, Michael Frisch, Clyde Griffen, Herbert Gutman, Michael Katz, Peter Knights, Lynn Lees, Anthony Maingot, Joan Scott, Leo Schnore.

Practicing Culture revitalizes the field of cultural sociology with an emphasis not on abstract theoretical debates but on showing how to put theoretical sources to work in empirical research. Each of the chapters in this book offer a provocative empirical case study of how culture works in practice and how practice makes and remakes culture. It is an essential tool for students and researche