Craft Work and the Social Imaginary of Organized Making

Abstract

This paper contributes to understanding how the social imaginary of organized craft work is constructed. The social imaginary enables the practices of a society by providing an interpretive means through which people imagine their social surroundings and develop common understandings. The analysis draws on Taylor’s (2004) concept of the social imaginary to understand the craft revival that has taken place in Western cultures in the past decade. Using empirical examples, it is proposed that this social imaginary is comprised of five dimensions: imagined communities, imagined places, imagined persons, imagined histories and imagined traditions. The paper shows how these five dimensions form the basis for constructing and contesting the authenticity of craft work. It concludes by drawing attention to the importance of the social imaginary of craft work in establishing a moral order. Specifically, it is argued that the current craft revival reflects a cultural shift away from a version of modernity based on values of rationalization and scientific, technological progress, towards more embedded, embodied conceptions of meaningful work.