"The distinguished sociologist Richard Sennett surveys major differences between earlier forms of industrial capitalism and the more global, more febrile, ever more mutable version of capitalism that is taking its place. He shows how these changes affect everyday life - how the work ethic is changing; how new beliefs about merit and talent displace old values of craftsmanship and achievement; how what Sennett calls "the specter of uselessness" haunts professionals as well as manual workers; how the boundary between consumption and politics is dissolving."--BOOK JACKET.

"This book was given as the Castle Lectures in Ethics, Politics, and Economics, delivered by Richard Sennett at Yale University in 2004"--P. facing t.p. verso.

1. Bureaucracy -- 2. Talent and the specter of uselessness -- 3. Consuming politics -- 4. Social capitalism in our time.