Together
The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Living with people who differ -- racially, ethnically, religiously, or economically -- is one of the most difficult challenges facing us today. Though our society is becoming ever more complicated materially, we tend to avoid engaging with people unlike ourselves. Modern politics emphasizes unity and similarity, encouraging the politics of the tribe rather than of complexity. Together: the rituals, pleasures and politics of Co-operation explores why this has happened and what might be done about it.
Sennett argues that living with people unlike ourselves requires more than goodwill: it requires skill. The foundations for skillful co-operation lie in learning to listen well and to discuss rather than debate. People who develop these capacities earn a reward: they can take pleasure in the company of others.
Together traces the evolution of cooperative rituals in medieval churches and guilds, Renaissance workshops and courts, early modern laboratories and diplomatic embassies. In our lives today, it explains the trials and prospects of cooperation online, face-to-face in ethnic conflicts, among financial workers and community organizers.
Exploring the nature of cooperation, why it has become weak, and how it could be strengthened, this visionary book offers a new way of seeing how humans can live together.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Cooperation can be defined...as an exchange in which the participants benefit from the encounter." Given that, what are the impacts of trends that reduce cooperation, such as class segregation in income and locales, temporary jobs in place of lifelong careers, and the "tribal" political divide? Citing current and historical sources, as well as providing numerous examples and anecdotes, NYU and London School of Economics sociology professor Sennett (The Craftsman) explores the origins of cooperation, the myriad factors that have led (and lead) to its erosion making it "less open, less dialogic" and its impact on society. Sennet argues that changes in the "social triangle...of earned authority, mutual respect and cooperation during a crisis," have resulted in an uncooperative character type who is becoming more common in modern society, one who in search of "reassuring solidarity amid economic insecurity" acts according to the "brutally simple" paradigm of "us-against-them coupled with you-are-on-your-own." Sennett concludes with skills that can enhance cooperation and community, citing a "repair" workshop as a useful metaphor for a cooperative society. Although Sennett's writing is engaging and he provides an interesting perspective on modern society, his final call for a commitment to community is a weak ending to an otherwise compelling study.
