Shop Class/Future of Work

Read the book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work by M. Crawford. Ideally you would read the whole book but definitely read the following: Introduction, Chapters 1,2, 6 & 7.

Also read the HBR and McKinsey items about the automation of work. Look at the SAM video.

In your first post, summarize Crawford’s argument made in the book about the special nature of manual work, changes in the way manual work is valued in our society, and the implications of these changes for our individual lives and the economy. How can you relate these to the ideas in the other materials about the changing nature of work. What is lost or gained? What does all this mean for you?

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/business/a-wave…

http://www.ctvisit.com/articles/connecticuts-count…

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/07/ups…

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digita…

https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-future-of-human-work-i…

https://lib.uconn.edu/services/maker-studio-uconn-…

Great summary of this major consulting company’s findings about how automation is affecting certain industries and jobs (cited in HBR report). Lots of useful tables and graphs like this one: