This book explores the threads between community building and fiber arts. Essays explore a variety of communities, different types of crafts, and the unique spaces and places where those communities exist. Readers will get a sense of how community is established, supported, and deconstructed to better understand the benefits they hold for community members. Thinking about how the communities work and why members join and stay within them offers the reader a rich view into the world of fiber arts and the communities within.
This book focusses on the role of craft as a continuing cultural practice and the revival of disappearing skills in contemporary society. It includes twenty-five essays by highly regarded artisans, academics, technologists, entrepreneurs, businesspeople, curators, and researchers from many countries representing a wide range of global craft traditions and innovations. The authors explain their professional practices and creative pathways with knowledge, experience, and passion. They offer insightful analyses of their traditions within their culture and in the marketplace, alongside the evolution of technology as it adapts to support experimentation and business strategies. They write about teaching and research informing their practice; and they explain the importance of their tools and materials in function and form of the objects they make. The essays reveal a poignant expression of their successes, disappointments, and opportunities. This book offers case studies of how artisans have harnessed the traditions of the past alongside the latest design technologies. The authors reveal how global craft is not only a vehicle for self-expression and creativity, but also for being deeply relevant to the world of work, community and environmental sustainability. The book makes the vital link between skills, knowledge, education, and employment, and fills a much-needed niche in Technical, Vocational Education and Training TVET.
This edited book focuses on the organization and meaning of craft work in contemporary society. It considers the relationship between craft and place and how this enables the construction of a meaningful relationship with objects of production and consumption. The book explores the significance of raw materials, the relationship between the body, the crafted object and the mind, and the importance of skill, knowledge and learning in the making process. Through this, it raises important questions about the role of craft in facing future challenges by challenging the logic of globalized production and consumption. The Organization of Craft Work encompasses international analyses from the United States, France, Italy, Australia, Canada, the UK and Japan involving a diverse range of sectors, including brewing, food and wine production, clothing and shoe making, and perfumery. The book will be of interest to students and academic researchers in organization studies, marketing and consumer behaviour, business ethics, entrepreneurship, sociology of work, human resource management, cultural studies, geography, and fashion and design. In addition, the book will be of interest to practitioners and organizations with an interest in the development and promotion of craft work. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
An informative and inspiring exploration of craftivism — the intersection of handicraft and activism — designed to encourage young creators while providing meaningful historical context. You don’t have to be old enough to vote to drive political change. In Crafting Change, author, TV producer, and craftivist Jessica Vitkus explores the rich lineage of craftivism, with profiles of craftivisit icons, many of whom are women and people of color. This YA non-fiction book shines a light on artist-driven projects like This Is Not a Gun – workshops where people sculpt objects the police have mistaken for a gun in fatal shootings -- alongside creative movements that mobilized entire communities, like the AIDS Memorial Quilt and the Pussyhat project for the 2017 Women’s March. This engaging narrative combines compelling artist interviews with full-color photos of creators and crafts alike. A perfect book for teens who want to channel their creativity into political action, with ideas for simple projects sure to appeal to budding craftivists.
Step into a world where cold is merely a concept, not a discomfort. "Crafting Warmth" is not just a book; it is a compendium of centuries-old wisdom interwoven with cutting-edge science, an essential guide for anyone who has ever longed to conquer the chill of the wild and the frost of the mundane. Dive into the heart of insulated clothing with "Crafting Warmth," where each chapter unfurls a new layer of understanding, teaching you not only the history and science behind thermal wear, but also guiding your hands in crafting personalized warmth. Journey through the thoughtful analysis of insulation materials, from the time-honored wool to advanced synthetics and innovative technologies that are shaping the landscape of modern insulation. Brace yourself for a detailed exploration into the ergonomics of insulated clothing with practical guidance on crafting the perfect insulated jacket, navigating the complexities of insulated pants, and even piecing together the warmest gear for your hands and feet. And the investment in knowledge does not stop at apparel discover the secrets to creating snug sleeping arrangements that promise restful nights under starlit skies. But "Crafting Warmth" isn't merely technical; it's a shrine to the art of cold-weather garment creation. The in-depth chapters entice you to tailor insulated footwear or design the ideal thermal vest to add a versatile core of warmth without the bulk. Accessories become allies against the cold as you learn to make earmuffs and scarves, combining function with fashion. As you near the culmination of this journey, "Crafting Warmth" equips you with skills to assess environmental conditions, layer effectively, and prepare an emergency insulation survival kit. And the wisdom trickles down to the youngest, teaching how to tailor insulated garments for children in a safe and engaging manner. The book closes with a future-focused lens, pondering ethical considerations in manufacturing and the remarkable potential of sustainable and smart textiles. Each chapter not only amplifies your knowledge but ignites a passion for the sustainable crafting community, pushing the boundaries of what it means to keep warm in an ever-changing climate. "Crafting Warmth" is your invitation to embrace a future that looks beyond comfort to self-sufficiency and environmental consciousness. It's about thriving in frigid temperatures with a heartwarming sense of responsibility. So throw on your coziest socks, settle in, and ready your crafting hands for a transformative expedition through the delightful world of insulated crafting.
Craft practice has a rich history and remains vibrant, sustaining communities while negotiating cultures within local or international contexts. More than two centuries of industrialization have not extinguished handmade goods; rather, the broader force of industrialization has redefined and continues to define the context of creation, deployment and use of craft objects. With object study at the core, this book brings together a collection of essays that address the past and present of craft production, its use and meaning within a range of community settings from the Huron Wendat of colonial Quebec to the Girls? Friendly Society of twentieth-century England. The making of handcrafted objects has and continues to flourish despite the powerful juggernaut of global industrialization, whether inspired by a calculated refutation of industrial sameness, an essential means to sustain a cultural community under threat, or a rejection of the imposed definitions by a dominant culture. The broader effects of urbanizing, imperial and globalizing projects shape the multiple contexts of interaction and resistance that can define craft ventures through place and time. By attending to the political histories of craft objects and their makers, over the last few centuries, these essays reveal the creative persistence of various hand mediums and the material debates they represented.
The study of communication, language, and discourse is at once simple, elegant, and complex. Each of these areas is informed by "micro" subjective experiences of individuals and the "macro" processes of a culture. Communication itself is thoroughly modern yet it seeks anchorage in the traditions of the humanities and social sciences. All of this creates a significant challenge. In this monograph, Ellis considers the study of communication as he discusses three key issues in communication theory: (1) the growing emphasis on meaning, (2) the importance of a mediated culture, and (3) the links between micro communication activities and macro social categories such as ethnicity and social class. In response to these three issues, this book deals with the way people use language and communication to construct their world; this world is not constructed purely but is influenced by attitudes, ideologies, and biases. In the modern world the medium of communication has an impact on consciousness and society, and Ellis shows how the media are responsible for some of the fault lines in society. The book also explores principles of medium theory and documents the impact of media on psychological and sociological phenomena. Finally, work of Goffman, Giddens, and Randall Collins is extended to show how micro communication behaviors are implicated in and by social conditions. ADDITIONAL COPY FOR MAILER Expanded features: * The chapters work out a logic connecting real communication patterns with the broad principles upon which societies are explored. Thus the title "Crafting" Society--the crafting is purposefully active to indicate the dynamic processes involved in creating what we call society. Society and culture have their roots and empirical bases in communication; that is, in the daily struggles of interaction. * Two chapters on two of the most important and controversial issues of the day--ethnicity and class. These two chapters are clear illustrations of the new theoretical principles discussed throughout the book. * A chapter on social class is very unique for a book devoted to communication processes. Communication theorists do not usually write about class, even though it is a highly symbolic process and rooted in communication patterns. Class is a difficult concept in America since so few people, other than sociologists, care to talk about it. * A chapter on medium theory takes the bold step of experimenting a little by summarizing basic causal statements and propositions. This device underscores the goal of a theory which is to come to grips with testable statements. The focus is on medium theory and how the media influence consciousness and social structure. * A unique chapter takes up the issue of how communication processes are constitutive of social structures. It draws on work by Giddens and others to return to a concept of structure based on actions that produce and reproduce structure.
How do some families create more healthful environments for their children? How do we explain the health status differences between men and women, blacks and whites, and different communities or cultures? How is stress generated in the workplace? What accounts for the persistent social class differences in mortality rates? Why do societies experience higher rates of mortality after economic recession? Such fundamental questions about the social determinants of health are discussed in depth in this wide-ranging and authoritative book. Well-known contributors from North America and Europe assess the evidence for the diverse ways by which society influences health and provide conceptual frameworks for understanding these relationships. The book opens with a broad review of research on the social environment's contribution to health status and then addresses particular social factors: the family, the community, race, gender, class, the economy, the workplace and culture. The concluding two chapters examine the contribution of medicine to the improved health of Americans and recast the health care policy debate in a broad social policy context.
