Call for Papers

Call for short papers (pdf)

In recent decades, craft has reemerged as a reaction against technologism and globalization, a “counterweight to industrialized mass production” (Miller, 2017, p. 2). We see industries dominated by large-scale industrialization and homogenization experiencing a “craft revolution” where traditional craft approaches are reimagined for the modern world, drawing on heritage as a dynamic source of innovation that bridges the past and present (e.g., Elzinga et al., 2015; Negro et al., 2011; Raffaelli, 2019). Craftworkers embedded within specific cultural contexts, infuse their creations with layers of meaning, based on traditional beliefs and narratives reclaiming and revitalizing essential aspects of collective identities (Holt & Yamauchi, 2019; Yamauchi & Hjorth, 2024). We also see a corresponding burgeoning interest among consumers for craft-based products (Campbell, 2005; Garavaglia & Swinnen, 2017; Luckman, 2015) where consumption is taken more seriously, beyond the parameters of buying/using/replacing objects and services. There is a growing acceptance of scaling back from excess and a move to consider that object carries with them a story, a history, and a legacy.
 
Here we are interested in the tensions in the interplay between heritage and novelty and how craft activities are infused with a sense of continuity whilst at the same time evolving and innovating, a symbiotic dance between the old and the new (Sasaki & Ravasi, 2024). We explore the transformative potential of engaging with craft to re-envision consumption as taking over a responsibility for an object well made, made to be maintained, consumption as a more sustainable practice and a rejection of the disposable mindset that characterizes much of contemporary consumer culture. Craft embodies this ethos by emphasizing not just the act of acquisition but rather the assumption of responsibility for objects well-made and intended to last (Clarke & Holt, 2016). Craft-produced items are “imbued with touch...[and] offer a connection to the maker through the skill and learning apparent in their construction” (Luckman, 2013, p. 252), we wish to explore how craft gives voice to human ingenuity, creativity, and resilience and is a form of expression both individually and collectively.
 
Craft is not only about the manner in which objects are made, but also a way of thinking about and approaching work fundamentally different from a “dispassionate and utilitarian involvement with one’s work” (Kroezen et al., 2021, p. 72). In particular we see craft as a humanist approach to work that prioritizes “human engagement over machine control” (Kroezen et al., 2021, p. 5) providing an alternative and more meaningful model of work infused with the values and ideals destroyed by industrialization and embodying the working practices needed for “good labour” (Baljon, 1997; Crawford, 2009; Ocejo, 2017). Beyond its material and technical, craft is communal and imaginative encompassing the evaluative and emotional experience of those both creating and using craft objects. We seek to develop insight into craft as a form of meaningful engagement with the objects we create and consume and cultivate a deeper understanding of craft’s capacity to weave together the threads of our past, present, and future.
 
Building on these ideas, we invite contributions that examine craft as a site of meaning-making, innovation, and continuity in contemporary society. We are particularly interested in how craft, as both a process and a philosophy, challenges dominant models of industrial production and consumption, offering alternative ways of engaging with work, materials, and heritage. At its core, craft embodies a tension between tradition and renewal, where historical practices are reimagined for contemporary contexts, shaping new forms of identity, community, and value. We aim to examine how craft fosters more meaningful and sustainable engagements with objects – both in their creation and consumption – by resisting the disposable mindset of mass production and embracing responsibility, skill, and care. Beyond its material and technical dimensions, we view craft as a deeply human and relational endeavour that reshapes occupational identities, reconnects individuals with the labour of making, and offers a framework for re-enchanting work.
 

References

• Baljon, C.J. (1997): “Interpreting Ruskin: The argument of the Seven Lamps of Architecture and the Stones of Venice.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 55 (4), 401–414.
• Campbell, C. (2005): “The craft consumer: Culture, craft and consumption in a postmodern society.” Journal of Consumer Culture, 5 (1), 23–42.
• Clarke, J., & Holt, R. (2016) “Vivienne Westwood and the ethics of consuming fashion.” Journal of Management Inquiry, 25 (2), 199–213.
• Crawford, M.B. (2009): Shop Class as Soul Craft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. New York: Penguin.
• Elzinga, K.G., Tremblay, C., & Tremblay, V.J. (2015): “Craft beer in the United States: History, numbers, and geography.” Journal of Wine Economics, 10 (3), 242–272.
• Garavaglia, C. & Swinnen, J. (2017): “The craft beer revolution: An international perspective.” Choices, 32 (3), 1–8.
• Holt, R., & Yamauchi, Y. (2019): “Craft, Design and Nostalgia in Modern Japan The Case of Sushi.” In: E. Bell, G. Mangia, S. Taylor, & M.L. Toraldo (eds.): The Organization of Craft Work. Identities, Meanings, and Materiality. New York: Routledge, 20–40.
• Kroezen, J., Ravasi, D., Sasaki, I., Żebrowska, M., & Suddaby, R. (2021): “Configurations of craft: alternative models for organizing work.” Academy of Management Annals, 15 (2), 502–536.
• Luckman, S. (2013): “The aura of the analogue in a digital age: Women’s crafts, creative markets and home-based labour after Etsy.” Cultural Studies Review, 19 (1), 249–270.
• Luckman, S. (2015): Craft and the Creative Economy. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Miller, C.F. (2017): “The contemporary geographies of craft-based manufacturing.” Geography Compass, 11 (4), https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12311.
• Negro, G., Hannan, M.T., & Rao, H. (2011): “Category reinterpretation and defection: Modernism and tradition in Italian winemaking.” Organization Science, 22 (6), 1449–1463.
• Ocejo, R.E. (2017): Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Raffaelli, R. (2019): “Technology reemergence: Creating new value for old technologies in Swiss mechanical watchmaking, 1970–2008.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 64 (3), 576–618.
• Sasaki, I., & Ravasi, D. (2024): “Historical consciousness and bounded imagination: how history inspires and constrains innovation in long-lived firms.” Academy of Management Discoveries, 10 (1), 59–90.
• Yamauchi, Y., & Hjorth, D. (2024): “Tradition, entrepreneurship and innovation. The craft of Japanese fine dining.” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 18 (4), 841–862.
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