Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work explores what is lost when work becomes abstract and detached from the material world. Drawing on the author’s experience as an electrician and mechanic, it reflects on the satisfactions of making and fixing things with our hands.
The book challenges the assumption that everyone should become a "knowledge worker" and that office jobs are the highest form of employment. It traces how separating thinking from doing has shaped modern work, often leaving people in cubicles unsure of what they truly accomplish.
In contrast, manual trades are presented as work that demands careful thought, practical intelligence, and judgment. They can offer moments of real pleasure, rooted in visible results and tangible problem-solving.
Shop Class as Soulcraft also argues that such work is harder to outsource or automate, tying people more closely to their local communities and giving a sense of pride in doing something concretely useful.
Key themes
- Dignity and meaning in manual labour
- The split between intellectual and practical work
- Limits of the "knowledge economy" ideal
- Community, self-reliance, and useful skill
