Overview

In today's new economy-in which ""good"" jobs are typically knowledge or technology based-many well-educated and culturally savvy young people are instead choosing to pursue traditionally low-status manual labor occupations as careers. Masters of Craft looks at the renaissance of four such trades: bartending, distilling, barbering, and butchering. In this engaging book, Richard Ocejo takes you into the lives and workplaces of these people to examine how they are transforming once-undesirable jobs into ""cool"" and highly specialized upscale occupations. He shows how they find meaning in these jobs by enacting a set of ""cultural repertoires,"" resulting in a new form of elite taste-making. Focusing on cocktail bartenders, craft distillers, upscale men's barbers, and whole-animal butcher shop workers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and upstate New York, Masters of Craft provides new insights into the stratification of taste, the spread of gentrification, and the evolving labor market in today's postindustrial city.

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9780691183190

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Reviews

Masters of Craft provides a powerful lens into two of the most powerful forces in society today: the gentrification of our cities and the transformation of work. --Richard Florida, University of Toronto, author of The Rise of the Creative Class A sociologist walks in a bar . . . and discovers the soul of a new economy.... Mr. Ocejo has a good eye and ear. He has talked to a lot of people. And his book is full of acutely heard and closely observed details. --William L. Hamilton, Wall Street Journal A fascinating book, full of valuable observations and insights. Particularly impressive is the way it captures the distinctive atmospheres of these jobs. --William Skidelsky, Financial Times

Longlisted for the 2018 Spirited Awards Best New Book on Drinks, Culture, History, or Spirits, Tales of the Cocktail A sociologist walks in a bar . . . and discovers the soul of a new economy.... Mr. Ocejo has a good eye and ear. He has talked to a lot of people. And his book is full of acutely heard and closely observed details. --William L. Hamilton, Wall Street Journal Masters of Craft provides a powerful lens into two of the most powerful forces in society today: the gentrification of our cities and the transformation of work. --Richard Florida, University of Toronto, author of The Rise of the Creative Class A fascinating book, full of valuable observations and insights. Particularly impressive is the way it captures the distinctive atmospheres of these jobs. --William Skidelsky, Financial Times

Masters of Craft provides a powerful lens into two of the most powerful forces in society today: the gentrification of our cities and the transformation of work. -Richard Florida, University of Toronto, author of The Rise of the Creative Class A sociologist walks in a bar . . . and discovers the soul of a new economy.... Mr. Ocejo has a good eye and ear. He has talked to a lot of people. And his book is full of acutely heard and closely observed details. -William L. Hamilton, Wall Street Journal A fascinating book, full of valuable observations and insights. Particularly impressive is the way it captures the distinctive atmospheres of these jobs. -William Skidelsky, Financial Times

"""Winner of the Max Weber Book Award, Organizations, Occupations, and Work Section of the American Sociological Association"" ""Longlisted for the 2018 Spirited Awards Best New Book on Drinks, Culture, History, or Spirits, Tales of the Cocktail"""

Author Information

Richard E. Ocejo is associate professor of sociology at John Jay College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. His books include Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars in New York City (Princeton).

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