“This book stands at the pinnacle of the body of work produced over the course of a career by a distinguished academic; it is the masterpiece of a craftsman who has sought ceaselessly for greater nuances of skillful expression both in his chosen crafts and in his writings about them.” • Roy Dilley, University of St Andrews

“The Pursuit of Pleasurable Work is an outstanding contribution to the anthropology of craft and education. Marchand’s ethnographic inquiry into British woodworking is intellectually versatile, bringing the fields of economics and work, education and ideology, as well as neuroscience and philosophy to bear on the everyday concern of crafting a meaningful identity and pleasurable life.” • Erin O’Connor, Marymount Manhattan College

Against the backdrop of an alienating, technologizing and ever-accelerating world of material production, this book tells an intimate story: one about a community of woodworkers training at an historic institution in London’s East End during the present ‘renaissance of craftsmanship’. The animated and scholarly accounts of learning, achievement and challenges reveal the deep human desire to create with our hands, the persistent longing to find meaningful work, and the struggle to realise dreams. In its penetrating explorations of the nature of embodied skill, the book champions greater appreciation for the dexterity, ingenuity and intelligence that lie at the heart of craftwork.

Related Link: A Blog post written by Trevor H. J. Marchand:
https://ewap-brookes.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-pursuit-of-pleasurable-work.html

Series: Volume 4, New Anthropologies of Europe: Perspectives and Provocations

Subject: Anthropology (General) Sociology

Area: Northern Europe

BISAC: SOC002010 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Anthropology/Cultural & Social; CRA042000 CRAFTS & HOBBIES/Woodwork; BUS107000 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/Personal Success