Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy

by Richard E Ocejo

How educated and culturally savvy young people are transforming traditionally low-status manual labor jobs into elite taste-making occupationsIn today’s new economy—in which “good” jobs are typically knowledge or technology based—many well-educated and culturally savvy young men are instead choosing to pursue traditionally low-status manual labor occupations as careers. Masters of Craft looks at the renaissance of four such bartending, distilling, barbering, and butchering.In this in-depth and engaging book, Richard Ocejo takes you into the lives and workplaces of these people to examine how they are transforming these once-undesirable jobs into “cool” and highly specialized upscale occupational niches—and in the process complicating our notions about upward and downward mobility through work. He shows how they find meaning in these jobs by enacting a set of “cultural repertoires,” which include technical skills based on a renewed sense of craft and craftsmanship and an ability to understand and communicate that knowledge to others, resulting in a new form of elite taste-making. Ocejo describes the paths people take to these jobs, how they learn their chosen trades, how they imbue their work practices with craftsmanship, and how they teach a sense of taste to their consumers.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, gentrification, and the evolving labor market in today’s postindustrial city.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Sociology, Business

358 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2017

Reviews

[Hallie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The baseline topic for this book takes a look at workers and jobs in four select industries which were once considered manual labor and unappealing, but have since in recent history been transformed into jobs that are seen as more culturally acceptable, exclusive, sought-after. I picked up this book as I was curious as to how and why this transformation took place for select classes of butchers, bartenders, distillers, and barbers. I appreciated the anecdotal nature of the observations that the author provided - there were definitely lots of interesting stories and insights. The downside for me was all the additional scientifically-oriented commentary from the author - this work came out of what I'm guessing was a sociology research project of his and thus contains a lot of content on research methodology and theory. Understandably important if one was reading this book from a scientific perspective but it just didn't apply to me.

[Russell Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Masters of Craft is a wonderful, if ultimately very straightforward, sociological study of a relatively recent socio-economic phenomenon that I think may provide the basis for a lot of very fruitful theoretical exploration, particularly of the radical or localist variety (though I doubt the author, Richard Ocejo, would necessarily agree with that judgment). The phenomenon he's looking at is the rise in cultural prestige of various "old jobs"--jobs that, to one degree or another, involve hands-on labor, the direct production of an immediately appreciable or consumable good, and put the workers in direct, public contact with those who are purchasing their work. Whole animal butchers, cocktail mixers, whiskey distillers, old-style barbers: all of these jobs have always existed, obviously, but the purchasing power of today's "cultural omnivore"--created by the internet, by globalization, and by the breakdown of long-standing patterns of work and consumption, and overwhelmingly (and only partially inaccurately) associated with "hipsters" living in major urban areas--has made them viable career routes for a large number of young men (and the people making a living at these jobs are, again, overwhelmingly male and relatively young).

Ocejo's study of these jobs involved much personal research, all of it in the New York City area, and a great deal of close observation--and not a little personal labor--in bars, distilleries, slaughterhouses, and barber shops. The book is resolutely sociological in its methodology and language--his insights about the appeal of these jobs, their historical evolution and likely future direction, and most of all the way those who pursue this kind of work and manage to make careers out of them understand themselves as differing in their tastes and attitudes towards everything from everyday economics to the nature of the material world, are always expressed in the rather unexciting disciplinary language of "social scripts" and "cultural repertoires," etc. I would have appreciated the book more if Ocejo had been willing to talk about what we can learn, from the shift of at least some workers into these formerly low-class but now somewhat prestigious jobs, about the contemporary urban landscape, about the future of the DIY and back-to-craft movement, and about the state of capitalism in general. But I'm not going to fault Ocejo for choosing not to theorize exactly the way I would have liked him too. He was the one who put in the years getting to know these people, observing them at work, following their supply chains, tracing the changes in their local economies, and more, with the result of producing a book full of fascinating reflections and data (about masculinity, authenticity, localism, privacy, and more). I am in his debt.

[anchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

雖然題材很有趣，但實際的田野內容並非我真的有興趣的類別，再次以本書來提醒自己：沒有很喜歡真的不要買 kobo99 的書。

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Quality service lies at the heart of each of these business types, but what separates the new cultural elites from their older peers and makes them part of a new form of luxury is how their workers intertwine interactive service with cultural knowledge and omnivorous tastes, and highlight a sense of craft in their work." (13)

"'That's OK, that's authenticity. They don't all have to be perfect.'" (quoting Joel on a poorly waxed whiskey bottle, 53)

"These workers get cool jobs, but not because they're cool or they want to be cool. For them, getting one of these jobs is the result of a search for meaning in work, to get recognized (by both consumers and people in their occupational community) for what they do, and for an occupation to anchor their lives and provide them with purpose." (134)

"I refer to the set of practices they use ... as 'service teaching,' or education through service. Service work at these unique businesses is more than just providing something for consumers. It is how omnivorous tastes get inculcated, and forms a key foundation for the professional entities of these new service workers." (193)

"A central aspect of these new elite manual labor jobs is that they are performed publicly, in front of a knowing audience." (262)

[Salvador Ramírez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro analiza los nuevos trabajos considerados de alto prestigio y elite en las urbes (analizando el caso de Nueva York) , que anteriormente eran oficios considerados "inferiores". Entre estos estudia a los carniceros, barberos, microdestiladores y barmans. El estudio es sociológico y realiza amplias entrevistas a diferentes prestadores de estos servicios y productores.

Una de las ideas centrales es que la economía del conocimiento se ha extendido a estos oficios, en la forma de discursos, repertorios culturales y conocimientos especializados, lo que los convierte en oficios de alto valor. Los cuales se asocian así a la "economía creativa". Del mismo modo, revela mucho de los clientes, las nuevas clases sociales privilegiadas que se han vuelto "omnívoros culturales", como una forma de diferenciarse y obtener capital cultural.

Son trabajos con prestigio y aún así, no escapan a la inestabilidad y precarización actual.

Un buen libro para analizar los mercados laborales de la "nueva economía" en ciudades altamente globalizadas.

[Joe Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting dive into the transformation of blue-collar work into (in a way) white-collar information work. It's one of those things that I think we all get exposed to, but the analytical and historical perspective Ocejo brings is certainly cool. That being said, it does read like a research paper that was padded out into a book, and while I found the first couple of chapters a fun read, my attention wandered by the end. There are certainly interesting anecdotal and historical tid-bits about the jobs he highlights, but ultimately it left me wanting a bit more analysis? If you've been around or curious about the worlds of cocktails or the sustainable food movement, you might find the book feeling like it's stating the obvious (looking for meaning in work, tries to differentiate from the blue collar version with information, etc.)

[Gilbert Baracka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masters of Craft examines the microcosm of four crafts: barbering, distilling, cocktailing, butchering. The author has two arguments. First, these old jobs, while often deprecated by the mainstream, are creating a culture that urbanites seek out for authentic experiences. Second, although these jobs are not highly regarded they can give someone meaning in what they do.In the beginning of the book we get a glimpse of the individual jobs' history, inner-culture, and economics. Individuals in this line of work are passionate about it and usually possess a college degree. Those that have college degrees get positions where they interact with customers and non-degree holders work in the back. Finally, the jobs examined emphasize the importance of cross training employees like exceptional customer service and learning from each other. There are instances of employees getting fired because they were not solicitous about the customer. In retrospect, I didn't get a complete feel of what's like to be in one of these jobs.

[Brishen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate this book for being a document in time, looking at a specific slice of the urban city economy that was rapidly changing. While it was at times tedious, it's sort of that point, and I was fascinated by the dispassionate witness perspective that the author wrote from. In many ways we are already past the times documented in the book, something alluded to in the book's epilogue. Understanding what exactly happened will only occur through first hand histories such as this.

[Seb Swann · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like modern, sociological research projects on cultural trends and changes; with an insightful, engaging, and enjoyable book filled with first-hand experiences from a participant observer, Ocejo presents a well-researched, thorough examination of how historically traditional jobs like bartenders, distillers, barbers, and butchers have been elevated to a new status in niche circumstances as part of modern, urban economy.

[Stefani]

Interesting to read in succession with The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen. Both authors touched on many of the same topics, but in very different ways.

This book is mildly interesting. As the author is a researcher, I hoped for deeper analysis and less narrative. My attention wasn't sustained throughout. In general, this book could've just been summed up into an article.

[Beatrice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really could have used more analysis. For all that a major pillar of his argument rests on masculinity, he really fails to give a good accounting of how/why most of these people just HAPPEN to be white men.

[Eric Harrison]

Very good sociology-styled read. Makes you realize even the 'authentic' things that I find cool aren't as authentic as the real-deal. But I'm still going to get my barber shop haircut, drink craft spirits, buy local poultry, and adore a good cocktail.