Matthew Crawford: The truth about 'Smart Cities'

'Shopcraft as Soulcraft' is Matthew Crawford's philosophical exploration of the value and dignity of manual labor in an increasingly automated and digital world. Crawford, who himself left a white-collar job to open a motorcycle repair shop, argues that skilled trades offer a unique form of intellectual and personal satisfaction. He contrasts the tangible rewards of working with one's hands with the often abstract and alienating nature of modern office work. The book champions the importance of craftsmanship, skill, and direct engagement with the physical world, suggesting that these activities can provide a sense of purpose and fulfillment that is often lacking in contemporary society. Through insightful analysis and personal anecdotes, Crawford challenges conventional notions of work and success.

This book challenges the modern cultural bias that values office work over manual labor, arguing that skilled manual work offers meaningful, intellectually engaging, and rewarding experiences. Drawing on philosophical insights from thinkers like Aristotle, Heidegger, Karl Marx, and Iris Murdoch, as well as his own practical experience as an electrician and motorcycle mechanic, Crawford critiques the dehumanizing effects of office and factory work. He calls for a rediscovery of pride, excellence, and agency in working with one's hands, highlighting the importance of craftsmanship and self-reliance in a consumerist and throwaway culture.

Published in 1961, 'The Death and Life of Great American Cities' is a seminal work by Jane Jacobs that critiques the urban planning policies of the 1950s. Jacobs argues against the modernist urban renewal practices that separated uses and led to the decline of city neighborhoods. She advocates for dense, mixed-use development, walkable streets, and the importance of 'eyes on the street' to maintain public order. The book emphasizes the complexity of urban life and the need for planning that prioritizes the needs and experiences of residents. Jacobs uses her own neighborhood, Greenwich Village, as a model for a healthy and vibrant urban environment, contrasting it with the urban renewal projects championed by figures like Robert Moses.

In this book, James C. Scott examines the failures of centrally managed social plans and the destructive consequences of high-modernist ideologies. Scott argues that states often impose simplistic visions on complex societies, ignoring local, practical knowledge and leading to disastrous outcomes. He identifies four conditions common to all planning disasters: administrative ordering of nature and society, high-modernist ideology, authoritarian state power, and a prostrate civil society. The book critiques various utopian projects, including collective farms, compulsory villagization, and urban planning, and advocates for a more nuanced approach that respects local diversity and practical knowledge.

In 'The World Beyond Your Head', Matthew B. Crawford investigates the intense focus of various professionals such as ice hockey players, short-order chefs, and organ builders, as well as the behaviors of gambling addicts. He argues that our current attention crisis is a result of certain assumptions in Western culture that are at odds with human nature. Crawford emphasizes the importance of embodied, social, and situated experiences in forming the self and argues that genuine agency comes from voluntary submission to realities beyond one's own head. The book has implications for how we raise children, design public spaces, and understand democracy.

In 'Why We Drive,' Matthew B. Crawford blends philosophy and hands-on storytelling to explore the significance of driving in human life. The book delves into Crawford's own experiences restoring a vintage Volkswagen and his journeys through various automotive subcultures. It is a meditation on the competence of ordinary people, the rewards of 'folk engineering,' and the existential value of driving. Crawford argues against the trend of self-driving cars, highlighting the importance of human agency and the battle for democratic self-determination against surveillance capitalists. The book is a celebration of the human spirit and the freedom associated with driving.