political shoemakers

Perhaps the most plausible explanation for the
intellectualism of the profession derives from
this factor: the shoemaker's work both was
sedentary and required little physical strength.
[...] Maybe that provided an incentive to
acquire other kinds of prestige. And maybe
here the semi-routine nature of a large part
of the work, which could be easily combined
with thought, observation, and conversation,
suggested intellectual alternatives.

-- E. J. Hobsbawm and Joan Wallach Scott, "Political shoemakers", Past
and Present, 1980; 89: 86-114.

Quoted in "Phyles: Economic Democracy in XXIst Century",
http://deugarte.com/gomi/phyles.pdf