Overview

Throughout the 21st century, various craft practices have drawn the attention of academics and the general public in the West. In Craft is Political, D Wood has gathered a collection of essays to argue that this attention is a direct response to and critique of the particular economic, social and technological contexts in which we live. Just as Ruskin and Morris viewed craft and its ethos in the 1800s as a kind of political opposition to the Industrial Revolution, Wood and her authors contend that current craft activities are politically saturated when perspectives from the Global South, Indigenous ideology and even Western government policy are examined. Craft is Political argues that a holistic perspective on craft, in light of colonialism, post-colonialism, critical race theory and globalisation, is overdue. A great diversity of case studies is included, from craft and design in Turkey and craft markets in New Zealand to Indigenous practitioners in Taiwan and Finnish craft education. Craft is Political brings together authors from a variety of disciplines and nations to consider politicised craft.

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9781350122260

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Reviews

D. Wood's book gathers together a global chorus of voices that demonstrate the political relevance of craft practice. The practices referenced in Craft is Political range from craftivism to tea ceremony, refugee embroidery, Mexican wood-carving and sheep farming. Underpinning this is a fabric of key theories, including feminism, labour politics, race theory, ethics of care and sustain-ability. This book extends the purpose of the handmade beyond a romantic reaction to industrialisation. It places it at the centre of issues that have global import today, particularly climate change -- Kevin Murray, Editor, Garland magazine, Australia Craft is Political provides a thought-provoking and much-need global perspective on the political, economic, and social role of craft in the 21st century. -- Juliette MacDonald, Professor of Craft, History and Theory, University of Edinburgh, UK

Author Information

D Wood is an independent craft and design scholar based in Canada.

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