 | Price Comparisons: Rental | | Sorry, the textbook you were looking for is not available as Rental, at any of the stores we searched. | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | The national bestseller that defines a new economic class and shows how it is key to the future of our cities. The Washington Monthly 2002 Annual Political Book Award Winner The Rise of the Creative Class gives us a provocative new way to think about why we live as we do today-and where we might be headed. Weaving storytelling with masses of new and updated research, Richard Florida traces the fundamental theme that runs through a host of seemingly unrelated changes in American society: the growing role of creativity in our economy. Just as William Whyte's 1956 classic The Organization Man showed how the organizational ethos of that age permeated every aspect of life, Florida describes a society in which the creative ethos is increasingly dominant. Millions of us are beginning to work and live much as creative types like artists and scientists always have-with the result that our values and tastes, our personal relationships, our choices of where to live, and even our sense and use of time are changing. Leading the shift are the nearly 38 million Americans in many diverse fields who create for a living--the Creative Class. The Rise of the Creative Class chronicles the ongoing sea of change in people's choices and attitudes, and shows not only what's happening but also how it stems from a fundamental economic change. The Creative Class now comprises more than thirty percent of the entire workforce. Their choices have already had a huge economic impact. In the future they will determine how the workplace is organized, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and even which cities will thrive or wither. |
Average Customer Rating:    The Rise of the Academic Class Like most books out of modern academia, this is 352 pages of a 120 page book. Richard Florida runs out of ideas about 1/4 of the way through his treatis and keeps going as if adding words will equate to additional information.
Like a lot of academic "experts," Florida totally missed where the economy was going. In 2003, "ideas, information, and invention" probably looked promising, if you didn't see the underlying fault in that concept: nobody "needs" to buy ideas when 6 billion people are still buying things. The world of phoney ideas (subprime mortages and the associated paper) has taken a hit and will continue to take hits until it bankrupts the United States and any country foolish enough to believe "a sucker born every minute" is a business philosophy.
Without a functioning education system, Florida's "creative class" has no fuel to extend itself. It's a wonderful dream, but a grossly optimistic philosophy. "A pessimist is an optimist with experience." An insightful book, but awkward at times At times I felt I was forcing myself to work through some of Florida's reasonings. I agree with his views on diversity and the positive impact it has on society in terms of stimulating creativity. I also agree with his perception of two Americas, perhaps even with his idea of one America embodying 'creative class' ideals and appearances while the other remains inept to change whether it be creative, social, or whatever.
My big problem with Florida's work, was his confusing stance on social cohesion. Most of what he said, to me, sounded critical. I got the idea that he is not for the reaffirmation of social values in society. My qualm isn't rooted in my disagreement with him on this issue, it is with the fact that towards the end of his chapter on social capitol/cohesion, I got the distinct feeling that his stance straddled the pro and con sides of whether or not America should move back to fortifying itself socially.
Overall, I would recommend this book for someone looking for a way to study modern urban theory, but this book is best read critically. For me, it served the purpose of really getting to know my own beliefs on many issues facing us in this increasingly urban world. Sometimes I disagreed adamantly, other times my feelings were tepid, and other times I felt that Florida's words echoed my own sentiments. Read this book thinking. In My Top 10 Books An inspiring book for the future of the US economy - the movement from a manufacturing to a service to a knowledge to a new creative economy. The author's central argument is that there are "jobs" and skills that are abundant and there is another class of workers that create and they will drive the most value. But only if this class is harnessed and understood. To the latter they are not your "father's worker" - they are individualist and use their bodies as a creative canvass - they wear tattoos, they have their bodies pierced in most unusual ways and they may wear clothes that do not seem to be "business" appropriate. They also thrive in creative environments that is more bohemian than suburban. In order to harness them society must accept them and locate their businesses where THEY want to live. Non creative jobs include "professionals" that to some of us may seem superior - accountants, lawyers, engineers, computer programmers and radiologists - while these kind of professionals certainly are knowledgeable - they can be easily outsourced and/or their knowledge automated by the software and the internet. a "creative worker" adds value by taking these abundant-commoditized skills and intellectual property and shaping them in such as way that they are more unique. Examples of creative jobs include writers, artists, strategists, architects and salesman. The iPod is an example of taking off the shelf parts - in this case when 8 Gig of storage become small enough to fit in a pocket - and by building an intuitive interface to download and organize music files a new product is born - the cumulative work of strategy and design - in short adding value by being creative. Parents and children should read this book. Old knowledgeable jobs - that take many years of education and money - will have little return on investment - and the pay for these jobs will continue to fall. What parents and educators must enforce is letting creative individuals - self learn the basics and leave the creative individuals to spend most of their education on creative learning - the arts, literature, architecture, languages,speech and theater. Spectacular! Richard Florida has captured what it means to be "different" in this day and age. I'm based in Manila, Philippines. I've been job-hopping a lot because I really want to find the right company for me.
I always felt guilty doing this because we're used to the idea that you work for one company your whole professional life. Richard helped me understand that I'm not alone. Yes! I sincerely believe its not just happening in the US. All over the world, the creative class is reinventing how companies run their businesses. I also believe this is for the better. Money is not the main issue here, its having environments that let our creative juices flowing. And companies who can provide that will flourish. Those who don't? I'll let you figure it out. Buy the book! Wherever you may be, Moscow, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai, Madrid, London - this is happening folks!
I hope someone writes the Rise of the Global Creative Class soon.
Thank you Richard! "Creative" Class? Generally speaking, I would say it's a good book filled with a lot insights--some intuitive, some not. However, I was frustrated with his work for several reasons. I don't agree with nor do I accept his classification of workers who constitute the "Creative Class," and although the book is sprinkled with theory and research, he rarely mentions the methodology. He also relies heavily on anecdotal evidence in the form of his experiences, a focus group, and informal interviews. He never mentions the composition of his focus group, and he uses flawed data as evidence even after he concedes that the data he uses is unscientific--data collected from a self-selected response to an online survey.
Moreover, most of his research in the form of anecdotes and interviews have to do with those working in high-tech and doesn't support his argument about the whole "Creative Class." He defines the "Creative Class" as having two major sub-components: a "Super-Creative Core" and around the "Super-Creative Core" are creative professionals. He defines the "Super-Creative Core" as those in occupations whose economic function is to "create new ideas, new technology and/or new creative content." These occupations include those in a) Computer and mathematical occupations, b) Architecture and engineering occupations, c) Life, physical and social science occupations, d) Education, training, and library occupations, and e) Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations.
He defines "Creative Professionals" as those who engage in "complex problem solving that involves a great deal of independent judgment and requires high levels of education or human capital." These people are in a) Management occupations, b) Business and financial operations occupations, c) Legal occupations, d) Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, and e)High-end sales and sales management.
He reports that 38 million Americans, or 30% of all employed Americans belong to this class. Some occupations he includes in the "Creative Class" should not have been included. Whether those in Education, training, and library occupations "create new ideas, new technology and/or new creative content" is highly debatable. Also, whether or not those in Healthcare and "High-end sales" should be included in the "Creative professionals" sub-group of his "Creative Class" is debatable. I don't mean to disparage some occupations included in the "Healthcare technical occupations" and "High-end sales" occupations, but whether those occupations require "complex problem solving and great deal of independent judgment" is highly debatable. It's clear to me that he included some of these occupations to inflate the number of Americans to be included in the "Creative Class," in order to add clout to his argument that this class of people have a "huge economic impact" and will determine many aspects of the future. In addition, there are many artists, designers, writers, and entertainers who also work in the Service sector and Working sector in order to supplement their income; more often than not, their jobs in these sectors provide them with the majority of their incomes.
However, if one accepts Florida's characterization and size of the "Creative Class" and accepts this class as the
leaders of economic growth in the 21st century, and moves on to the "importance of place" in attracting and retaining those in the "Creative Class," one will find substantial data and statistical analysis supporting his argument that a city's vitality and economic survival is highly dependent on the "3 T's : Technology, Talent, and Tolerance." |  |
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