Respect: The Formation of Character in an Age of Inequality - Softcover

Sennett, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141007567 ISBN 13: 9780141007564

Publisher: Penguin, 2004

Synopsis

Richard Sennett's Respect: The Formation of Character in an Age of Equality is a provocative and timely examination of the forces that erode respect in modern society.

'Unlike food, respect costs nothing. Why, then, should it be in short supply?'

Respect can be attained by gaining success, by developing talents, through financial independence and by helping others. But, Sennett argues, many who are not able to achieve the demands of today's meritocracy lose the esteem that should be given to them.

From his childhood in a poor Chicago housing project to the contrasting methods of care practised by a nun and a social worker, from the harmonious interaction of musicians to the welfare system, Sennett explores the ways in which mutual respect can forge bonds across the divide of inequality.

'One of the boldest social thinkers of his generation ... [Sennett] has a genius for revealing the roots of our discontents'
  Boyd Tonkin, Independent

'Dazzling ... an elegant mix of interview, anecdote and wide research'
  Jenny Turner, Guardian

'This is the voice of a prophet'
  Scott McLemee, Washington Post

'Wise and humane ... Sennett has set his sights on that most daring of missions: to make the world a better place'
  Alain de Botton, Daily Telegraph

'Wholly engrossing ... [Sennett] explores ways of preserving an equality of respect'
  Alan Ryan, New York Review of Books

Richard Sennett's previous works include The Fall of Public Man, The Corrosion of Character, Respect, Flesh and Stone and The Craftsman. He taught for many years at the New York Institute of the Humanities and is now a Professor at the London School of Economics.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Sennett grew up in the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago, attended the Julliard School in New York and then studied social relations at Harvard. Over the last five decades, he has written about social life in cities, changes in labour and social theory. His books include The Hidden Injuries of Class, The Fall of Public Man, The Corrosion of Character, The Culture of the New Capitalism, The Craftsman and Building and Dwelling. Sennett has advised the United Nations on urban issues for the past thirty years and currently serves as member of the UN Committee on Urban Initiatives. He is Visiting Professor of Urban Studies at Harvard. Among other awards, he has received the Hegel Prize, the Spinoza Prize and the Centennial Medal from Harvard University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141007567
• ISBN 13: 9780141007564
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304