Richard Sennett on RTE Radio 1

Well worth listening to on RTE Radio 1 was Andy O’Mahony in Dialogue with American sociology professor Richard Sennett today at 18.30.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair gave Sennett’s last book, ‘Respect’, a sales boost when he launched his so-called respect agenda after the 2005 UK general election.

‘Respect’ is a book about how humans function (or not) in industrial urban societies. It is highly relevant to our rapidly developing, highly competitive, and increasingly segmented and flexible economy here in Ireland.

From a white liberal background, Sennett’s own view of the world was formed out of his growing up in a public housing project in 1940’s Chicago. His father was gone, and his mother became a social worker.

Sennet writes with fine-tuned insight, and it takes some time to work out if he’s actually saying anything of substance at all.

He is. He writes about identity and merit, about confidence and communication, about belonging and achieving. In short he writes about the qualities of humans which are the key to success in highly artificial urban societies.

Next years general election here in Ireland will once again open up discussion about childcare and education, how older people and the disabled are viewed and treated by society, and about positive cultures in the workplace. The pressures of economic participation can often seem to be eating away at the fabric of individuals, families and communities, for dubious benefits.

Richard Sennett is a welcome, and thought-provoking contributor to debate on these issues in Ireland. Dialogue can be downloaded here.