Neo-artisans ‘Out of Town’: Motivations and contradictions in non-urban neo-craft work

Abstract

Calls to ‘disconnect from work’ have become increasingly prominent in recent years. Within this framework, neo-craft occupations emerged as an attractive option for workers in search of meaningful work. While these have been primarily investigated as an urban phenomenon, less is known about neo-craft activities located outside the city and in non-urban settings. Based on large-scale qualitative research in the European Union, this article illustrates the motivations and contradictions that underpin the mobility and work trajectories of a set of neo-artisans who have decided to live and work away from large international cities. We show that, for them, spatial dislocations and mobility strategies are part of the same ‘good life’ project, and argue that neo-craft work should be seen as an example of ‘disconnection from work’ with a spatial component that is symptomatic of a cultural shift in the way work and its meaning are collectively imagined. Crucially, however, this is shaped by conditions of privilege and possibility, which do not merely affect individual choices but fundamentally distinguish those who can afford to undertake this lifestyle change from those who cannot.