Critical Craft: Technology, Globalization, and Capitalism

315 Pages·2016·3.206 MB·English

by  Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber, Alicia Ory DeNicola (eds.)

Critical Craft

Critical Craft
Technology, Globalization,
and Capitalism
EDITED BY
CLARE M. WILKINSON-WEBER
AND ALICIA ORY DENICOLA
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2016
© Selection and Editorial Material: Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber and Alicia Ory DeNicola, 2016
© Individual Chapters: Their Authors, 2016
Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber and Alicia Ory DeNicola have asserted their right under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the
publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining
from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or
the author.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4725-9486-0
PB: 978-1-4725-9485-3
ePDF: 978-1-4725-9487-7
ePub: 978-1-4725-9488-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Contributors xi
Acknowledgments xv
1 Introduction: Taking Stock of Craft in Anthropology 1
Alicia Ory DeNicola and Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber
PART ONE Contentions
17
2 Who Authors Crafts? Producing Woodcarvings and Authorship
in Oaxaca, Mexico 19
Alanna Cant
3 Forging Source: Considering the Craft of Computer
Programming 35
Lane DeNicola
4 American Beauty: The Middle Class Arts and Crafts Revival in
the United States 57
Frances E. Mascia-Lees
5 Designs on Craft: Negotiating Artisanal Knowledge and Identity
in India 79
Alicia Ory DeNicola and Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber
vi CONTENTS
6 Nomadic Artisans in Central America: Building Plurilocal
Communities through Craft 99
Millaray Villalobos
PART TWO Conundrums
113
7 Number in Craft: Situated Numbering Practices in Do-It-Yourself
Sensor Systems 115
Dawn Nafus and Richard Beckwith
8 Visions of Excess: Crafting Good Chocolate in France and the
United States 135
Susan Terrio
9 Creativity and Tradition: Keeping Craft Alive among Moroccan
Carpet Weavers and French Organic Farmers 153
Myriem Naji
10 Refashioning a Global Craft Commodity Flow from Aklan,
Central Philippines 169
B. Lynne Milgram
PART THREE Conflicts
187
11 Conflicting Ideologies of the Digital Hand: Locating the Material
in a Digital Age 189
Daniela Rosner
12 Materials, the Nation and the Self: Division of Labor in a
Taiwanese Craft 199
Geoffrey Gowlland
CONTENTS vii
13 Craft, Memory, and Loss: Babban riga robes, politics, and the
quest for “bigness” in Zaria City, Nigeria 217
Elisha P. Renne
14 Crafting Muslim Artisans: Agency and Exclusion in India’s
Urban Crafts Communities 239
Mira Mohsini
Notes 259
References 271
Index 295

List of Figures
1 A fully functional computer keyboard made from an old IBM
model M keyboard and parts from an old Continental Typewriter 50
2 Handmade Craftsman Lantern and Stickley Reproduction Table
and Chairs 66
3 Arts and Crafts Objects, Handmade by GPI Craftspeople 69
4 Traditional hand printing in Bagru 83
5 Tailors working under the direction of the master cutter in a
workshop making film costumes in Mumbai 95
6 Colombian nomadic artisan parche, Tamarindo, Costa Rica 105
7 Global popular culture: iconic Argentinian Che Guevara on a
tagua pipe from Ecuador, sold in Bocas del Toro, Panama 108
8 DIY home energy monitoring hub 127
9 Example of home energy readouts 131
10 A retail craft store in Manila, Philippines, displays a range
of home décor products made from nito reeds along with
accompanying documentation 170
11 Kalibo area artisans construct nito reed trays and container
forms 177
12 In a Kalibo workshop an artisan polishes and trims loose ends
from square nito reed place mats 180
13 Spyn system associates digital records with locations on knit
fabric using computer vision 190
14 Iterative development of Spyn software; infrared-enabled
camera images of knit yarn (left), Spyn screenshot (right) 192
15 Old-fashioned pickle jar, freshly made on the kick-wheel 208
16 Jimi Magajiya drawing patterns on cotton damask (shedda) in
his home in Anguwar Magajiya 218