Shop Class as Soulcraft

Author of The Rise of the Creative Class, Florida celebrates what he sees as the creativity availability in postindustrial society. He heaps praise on those who he calls members of the new “creative class” who, in his estimate, imbue corporate culture with a sense of playfulness and ingenuity that is as inventive and bohemian as making a tangible work of art. As an example of this corporate creative class, Florida cites lower level employees of companies such as Apple and Best Buy who offer suggestions such as revamping sales displays or offering fresh outreach strategies. In Crawford’s opinion, “the teenagers and immigrants” who are often poorly compensated for their labor have not “reclaimed the unity of thought and action of the preindustrial craftsman” (49). Crawford, in direct opposition to Florida, sees the idea of “corporate creativity” as a way for higher ups to steal and profit off the ideas of lower level employees who never see credit or compensation for their ideas. 

The writings of Taylor hugely influenced famous inventor Henry Ford, and Ford’s assembly line production of the Model T was inspired by Taylor methods. Ford was able to revolutionize the way cars were produced using these managerial insights. But his success was not without setbacks. Laborers were often hugely dissatisfied with the banality of being in charge of only one task. This occurred so much so that a biographer noted how “every time the company wanted to add 100 men to its factory personnel, it was necessary to hire 963” (42).

Crawford got his first break from Lance, who offered the teen a job at his shop servicing Porsches when Crawford was just 16. Crawford entered Lance’s employment with a great many preconceived notions—about engines, cars, and work itself. Crawford describes himself as enchanted by the shape and sound of a Porsche. After working on them and getting to know them intimately, he gained a real appreciation for the vehicle, a more in depth appreciation than a consumer. Crawford also comes to see just how dirt and grease goes into making and repairing these immaculate machines, as Lance often assigns him the job of scrubbing parts. 

A shop mate of Crawford’s, Tommy helps the author adjust his vision of material things and learn more about reconceptualization. Tommy instructs a class on mechanical drawing and brings in a human skeleton for the mechanics to draw. The author at first can only draw a badly sketched skeleton. When Tommy turns the drawing, Crawford gains a new perspective. He later applies this same exercise in thinking about problems in his shop and in life. 

Chas serves as an irreverent, unlikely mentor to Crawford. They meet when Crawford is fixing up his VW Bug, attempting to acquire a motor that will get the car the most speed. He first gets only parts from Chas, a renegade reactionary whose image and ideas run counter to the value of the leftist Berkley community he lives in. But when Chas sees that Crawford is in over his head, Chas helps to rebuild the motor to fit the VW Bug. The experience teaches Crawford a great deal about the value of trial and error and not trusting what should work in theory. From Chas, he learns to experiment, to draft sketches and take notes, and not to be stopped by a temporary setback.

Crawford does not name his father but does reference his father’s brand of knowledge and way of looking at the world. The author’s father is a mathematical physicist and deals in intense conceptual knowledge, information he tries to share with the author in his youth. Crawford recounts a moment in which he was frustrated in his attempts to repair his VW Bug and his father, seeing his frustrations, tried to offer salient advice: “Did you know you can always untie a shoelace just by pulling on one end, even if it’s in a double knot?” (79).In response to his father, Crawford thinks: “I didn’t know what to do with this information. It seemed to be coming from a different universe than the one I was grappling with” (79). Throughout the book, Crawford references his father’s conceptual shoelace several times. It becomes a symbol of an abstract truth that is less useful than the concrete truths gleaned from manual labor and physical trial and error in repair or creation. His father’s assertation also doesn’t hold water when the author decides to actually try it out.

Crawford agrees with Marx on some issues. Crawford, like Marx, is concerned with the value of labor and protecting the integrity of laborers’ efforts. Crawford, like Marx, sees management as often predatory, as the splintering of knowledge means that workers are devalued and suffer a loss of skills. One point that Marx and Crawford disagree on is the end goal of one’s labor. While Marx sees the selling of one’s hand-wrought work as the ripping away of vital time and effort, Crawford seeing the selling of a handmade product or the exchange of services to make or repair as a vital in-person encounter that makes real labor personal and relevant.