Critical Craft: Technology, Globalization, and Capitalism book by Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber), Alicia Ory DeNicola

Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber), Alicia Ory DeNicola

ISBN 10: 1472594851 / ISBN 13: 9781472594853

Published by Routledge, 2016

About this Item

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. No notes or highlighting. See images. Fantastic book. About the book >.>.> But it is less clear why an academic study of the apparently old-fashioned might be anything but quaint. We intend this book to put the study of craft front and center in anthropology and the wider social sciences by arguing that craft is a vital and fertile means to understand relationships between places, people, and time. Craft, like history, is a tool that people use to negotiate their roles and places within the material and social environment. The labor of craft work, the translation of craft export and design, and the material value of consumption all help those involved to "tell themselves" (Pucket 2000; Hensel 1996) in very different but often related and overlapping contexts Fully contemporary, craft and its underlying "tellings" transcend the collo- quial, the mundane, and the local, though perhaps our perceiving it as such is part of its significance as a meaningful trope This "telling," then, is what we are centrally interested in in Critical Craft We are less interested in defining craft (or e.

Seller Inventory # Batch-FM358-VG-8591

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Critical Craft: Technology, Globalization, and Capitalism book by Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber), Alicia Ory DeNicola
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1472594851
• ISBN 13: 9781472594853
• Binding: Softcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Modern History

About this title

Synopsis

From Oaxacan wood carvings to dessert kitchens in provincial France, Critical Craft presents thirteen ethnographies which examine what defines and makes ‘craft’ in a wide variety of practices from around the world. Challenging the conventional understanding of craft as a survival, a revival, or something that resists capitalism, the book turns instead to the designers, DIY enthusiasts, traditional artisans, and technical programmers who consider their labor to be craft, in order to comprehend how they make sense of it. The authors’ ethnographic studies focus on the individuals and communities who claim a practice as their own, bypassing the question of craft survival to ask how and why activities termed craft are mobilized and reproduced. Moving beyond regional studies of heritage artisanship, the authors suggest that ideas of craft are by definition part of a larger cosmopolitan dialogue of power and identity. By paying careful attention to these sometimes conflicting voices, this collection shows that there is great flexibility in terms of which activities are labelled ‘craft’. In fact, there are many related ideas of craft and these shape distinct engagements with materials, people, and the economy. Case studies from countries including Mexico, Nigeria, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, and France draw together evidence based on linguistics, microsociology, and participant observation to explore the shifting terrain on which those engaged in craft are operating. What emerges is a fascinating picture which shows how claims about craft are an integral part of contemporary global change.

About the Author

Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Washington State University Vancouver, USA.Alicia Ory DeNicola is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Oxford College of Emory University, USA.