Craftivism

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Craftivism = combining activism with the making of (handi)crafts.


Description

Craftivism is a form of activism, typically for social justice or environmentalism, that is centred around practices of craft - especially handicrafts. Practitioners are known as craftivists.


The above quote is from a stub in Wikipedia, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craftivism


Citation

"Craft is radical. In this age of corporate-driven mass-production, the act of an individual making a useful thing is radical. The act of buying a useful thing made by an individual is radical. It is akin to living off the grid: trading outside the big box.

Craft is to shopping what slow food is to restaurants. Buying high-quality things that needn’t be replaced over time but instead may be passed on to future generations is not only old-fashioned, it is also worldchanging. Craft is slow retail, slow consumption.

When dealing with craft, there is an awareness and appreciation for where a thing came from, how it was made, what materials were used in its fashioning, and who labored over it. Through this awareness, a relationship forms between the maker and the user, narrowing the huge gap between the producer and the consumer fostered by our mass-production globalized economy. Putting a face on an object is one way in which craft is, and always has been, worldchanging." (http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005934.html)

More Information

This blog about craftivism, at http://www.craftivism.com/about.html

Podcast interview about craftivism, at http://www.audioactivism.org/archives/000037.html

A documentary in progress, at http://www.indiecraftdocumentary.com/


Key Book to Read

Railla, Jean (2004). Get Crafty. Random House.