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Title: Melancholy cliches; no practical solutions
Review: Even Richard Sennett can't avoid every cliche of the downsizing literature: the father who toiled at honest, meaningful janitor's work; the successful symbolic analyst son filled with insecurity; the bakers who watch machines and "don't know how to make bread." The psychological insights come from a sample of two (no kidding): the owner of the bar where Sennett used to drink, and a guy he sat next to on an airplane. And there are no positive or practical solutions to be had. For that, readers can go to Stephen Herzenberg, John Alic, & Howard Wial, New Rules for a New Economy: Employment and Opportunity in Postindustrial America (1998)--and skip Sennett.
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