{"title":"Crafting professionals: Skills and resources for graduates entering the craft economy","authors":"Lauren England","doi":"10.1177/13675494221136610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221136610","url":null,"abstract":"There is growing interest in creative graduate skillsets, but so far there has been limited investigation of the specific skills and resource requirements of early-career crafts graduates. Drawing on qualitative interviews and quantitative rankings of skills and resources conducted with 25 graduates from four higher education providers in England, this article examines the role and relative priority of different skills and resources in establishing a professional practice. It is identified that the skills and resources key to professional practice are highly interrelated, and proposed that the diverse requirements for professional practice should be understood as an amalgam rather than isolated components, with the acquisition of skills and resources seen as accumulative. The potential for a lack of key resources to exacerbate inequalities in who can enter and work in the craft economy is discussed and recommendations made for initiatives that could help to address an unequal distribution of resources.","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1633 - 1651"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42392799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘I want to be judged on my work, I don’t want to be judged as a person’: Inequality, expertise and cultural value in UK craft","authors":"Karen Patel","doi":"10.1177/13675494221136619","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221136619","url":null,"abstract":"This article focuses on the relationship between inequality, expertise and cultural value in UK professional craft. Drawing on interviews with ethnically diverse women makers, I explore how getting their craft skills recognised and valued as expertise hinders their ability to establish a full-time career in craft. This is because judgements of craft expertise are largely predicated on aesthetic codes and classifications which are historically racialised, gendered and classed. In order to address these exclusionary processes, I argue that expertise in craft, which refers to the practical skills of production and the capacities of the maker, should be more central to evaluative judgements. I draw on Janet Wolff’s work on community evaluation to discuss how evaluative judgements about craft expertise can be less universalizing and instead located within specific contexts and communities. I propose that community evaluation could help to reframe what ideas of craft expertise are and address existing inequalities in the sector.","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1556 - 1571"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42893649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Special issue introduction: Craft economies and inequalities","authors":"Karen Patel, Rajinder Dudrah","doi":"10.1177/13675494221136618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221136618","url":null,"abstract":"Craft as a creative industry has received increased public, academic and policy attention in recent years. However, this tends to centre on a Westernised, white, middle-class version of craft practice associated with values of authenticity, the valorisation of the handmade, and ‘hipster’ culture. At the same time, despite a rich body of work on inequalities in the cultural industries, some of which is published in this journal, little attention has been given to craft. These matters are addressed in this special issue which interrogates the character and workings of the contemporary craft economy and provides much needed insight into experiences of inequality in the sector, drawing on research from the Global North and South. It also includes Cultural Commons contributions from Susan Luckman, Carol Tulloch and Saskia Warren which reflect on various aspects of contemporary craft.","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1549 - 1555"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45172009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In conversation with Deirdre Figueiredo MBE, Director of Craftspace","authors":"Karen Patel","doi":"10.1177/13675494221136615","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221136615","url":null,"abstract":"Deirdre Figueiredo MBE is Director of Craftspace, an organisation in Birmingham, United Kingdom, which supports contemporary craft. For over 30 years, Craftspace has been working with communities and artists to challenge and push boundaries in craft, and Deirdre has been at the forefront for most of that time. In this conversation with special issue editor Dr Karen Patel, Deirdre reflects on her career in the craft sector and her own intersectional experience, and discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement on contemporary craft.","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1652 - 1664"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47080875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Publication Notice","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/13675494221145097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221145097","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1547 - 1548"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48531716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Movers and Makers: Uncertainty, Resilience and Migrant Creativity in Worlds of Flux","authors":"Roo Dhissou","doi":"10.1177/13675494221137370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221137370","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1676 - 1678"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46000087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Access and diversity in South African craft and design: The work of craft intermediaries in Cape Town","authors":"R. Comunian, Lauren England","doi":"10.1177/13675494221136611","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221136611","url":null,"abstract":"Creative intermediaries are increasingly recognised for their role in facilitating the growth and development of creative entrepreneurs and creative and cultural industries. There is also a growing interest in the role of creative and cultural industries in developing economies, for economic development but also cultural engagement and social change. In this article, we bring a Global South perspective to the study of creative intermediaries in the craft sector by exploring how they engage with makers and markets for craft products in Cape Town, South Africa and beyond. Using qualitative interviews with key players from four intermediary organisations working at the community level through to luxury export, we present their different business models and approaches to supporting the development of the craft sector and makers. We reflect on the role they play in addressing inequalities, especially in opportunities to access craft careers and develop sustainable livelihoods for disadvantaged communities. We also consider some of the key challenges these intermediaries face in relation to policy, infrastructure, finance and global competition. The article argues for the value of adopting an ecological perspective in studying the role of craft intermediaries to recognise their role in addressing inequalities in accessing craft careers and the importance of support for makers at different stages in their professional development.","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1597 - 1616"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42640038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Gajjala, Ololade Faniyi, Sarah Ford, R. Untari, M. A. Al Makmun
{"title":"The persistence of the housewife ideology: Shifts in women’s roles in production of Sumbanese handwoven cloth","authors":"R. Gajjala, Ololade Faniyi, Sarah Ford, R. Untari, M. A. Al Makmun","doi":"10.1177/13675494221136614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221136614","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines women’s shifting roles in the production of handwoven cloth in Sumba, Indonesia. The main themes that emerge are the invisible labor of women and the production of a self-empowered entrepreneurial, gendered, laboring subjectivity that works in tandem with a housewife ideology firmly situated in a ‘new’ liberal patriarchy. The inequalities emerging from these shifts are parallel to inequalities produced through neoliberalization of global south craft communities in a context of global markets and tourist-oriented production. The discussion in this article is based on case studies drawn from over 50 interviews conducted during field visits and continued remotely when away from the field in Lambanapu and Praillu regions in Waingapu of Sumba, Indonesia. Overall, our analysis reveals how cultural work in this global south context reproduces a Westernized, neoliberal patriarchy even as it allows for individualized expressions of women’s agency.`","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1617 - 1632"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42815478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wild Intimacies: Justice-Seeking Mothers in Iran, Networked Activism and the Affective Politics of Mourning","authors":"Sara Tafakori","doi":"10.1177/13675494221130417","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221130417","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses the mediated affective practices of the network of #justice-seeking mothers in Iran, who campaign for justice for their children’s deaths at the hands of the state. I situate their melancholic performance of maternal mourning as central to the mediation of a ‘wild’ public intimacy, which contests the state’s attempts to limit and foreclose the spaces of political appearance. This intimate public, I argue, draws on the affordances of visuality and hashtags on Instagram and Twitter to invoke expanded notions of ‘home’ and ‘motherhood’that affectively sustain its political activism. Recent feminist scholarship has emphasised the counter-hegemonic potentials of mourning practices that go beyond the patriarchal family as a reference point, especially in campaigns that seek justice for and recognition of the dead, whether these practices are offline or online. I argue, however, that attention to the ‘relational’ (cultural, social, physical) affordances of digital mourning in this case s reveals that grassroots maternalism may draw its emotional resources from a shifting combination of conventional (familial) and non-conventional forms of kinship. It is this fluid and provisional approach to emotional and political ties that enables the #justice-seeking mothers’ network to mobilise a variety of intimate registers in constructing an affective space of political appearance.","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"698 - 721"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44112331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘When showing Hanfu to foreigners, I feel very proud’: The imagined community and affective economies of Hanfu (Chinese traditional couture) among Chinese migrant youth in the United Kingdom","authors":"Chen Fan, P. Ip","doi":"10.1177/13675494221124633","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494221124633","url":null,"abstract":"This article sheds light on the intricate relationship between the revival of Hanfu, traditional couture from the Han Dynasty, and rising Chinese nationalism among Chinese youth living in the United Kingdom. Mobilizing the theoretical tool ‘affective economies’, we explore how particular feelings and values are assigned and attached to Hanfu, and thereby circulate among young Chinese migrants. We begin by examining the Hanfu movement to interrogate how Hanfu is reinvented based on a selective historicity of the past, serving as a specific cultural product for China’s rejuvenation. We then move on to analyze a series of in-depth interviews conducted between December 2019 and July 2020. We probe the lived experiences of young Hanfu supporters, who are members of the UK Han Culture Association, and the cultural events organized by the Association, in order to scrutinize the ways Hanfu conjures up an imagined community suffused with nationalism. Drawing upon on the affective economies of Hanfu, we discern the following three key findings: First, we argue that there are both positive and negative affective attachments to Hanfu, such as homesickness, loneliness, alienation, happiness, pride and beauty, which impinge on migrant bodies, assigning values to Hanfu and the Hanfu-related cultural events. Second, we show through the analysis of the fieldwork materials the paradoxical desire for chuguo (going abroad) and huiguo (returning to the nation) in the hearts of the young migrants. Finally, we argue that Hanfu circulates as a ‘mnemonic thing’ that signifies a specific imaginary of Ancient China, where young migrant’s aiguo (love of the nation) sentiments are then ‘stuck’ to this reinvented fashion.","PeriodicalId":47482,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2022-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46593780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}