Table of Contents

1: Introduction: Taking Stock of Craft in AnthropologyAlicia Ory DeNicola, Oxford College of Emory University, USA and Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber, Washington State University Vancouver, USAPart I: Contentions2: Who Authors Crafts? Producing Woodcarvings and Authorship in Oaxaca, MexicoAlanna Cant, University of Oslo, Norway3: Forging Source: Considering the Craft of Computer Programming Lane DeNicola, Emory University, USA4: American Beauty: The Middle Class Arts and Crafts Revival in the United States Frances E. Mascia-Lees, Rutgers University, USA5: Designs on Craft: Negotiating Artisanal Knowledge and Identity in IndiaClare M. Wilkinson-Weber, Washington State University Vancouver, USA and Alicia Ory DeNicola, Oxford College of Emory University, USA6: Nomadic Artisans in Central America: Building Plurilocal Communities through Craft Millaray Villalobos, Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, Costa RicaPart II: Conundrums7: Number in Craft: Situated Numbering Practices in Do-It-Yourself Sensor SystemsDawn Nafus and Richard Beckwith, Intel Corporation, USA8: Crafting Good Chocolate in France and the US Susan Terrio, Georgetown University, USA9: Creativity, Critique and Conservatism: Keeping Craft Alive among Moroccan Carpet Weavers and French Organic Farmers Myriem Naji, University College London, UK10: Refashioning a Global Craft Commodity Flow from the Central PhilippinesB. Lynne Milgram, OCAD University, CanadaPart III: Conflicts11: ConflictingIdeologiesof the DigitalHand: Locating the Material in a Digital AgeDaniela Rosner, University of Washington, USA12: Materials, the Nation and the Self: Division of Labor in a Taiwanese CraftGeoffrey Gowlland, University of Oslo, Norway13: Craft, Memory and Loss: Hand-Embroidery in Zaria City, NigeriaElisha Renne, University of Michigan, USA14: Crafting Muslim Artisans: Agency and Exclusion in India’s Urban Craft CommunitiesMira Mohsini, Kalamazoo College, USANotesReferencesIndex

Promotional Information

This collection asks how and why craft is valorized, claimed, and interrogated, using case studies from all over the world, ranging from digital domains and media practice, to textile and ceramic manufacture.

About the Author

Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Washington State University Vancouver, USA.Alicia Ory DeNicola is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Oxford College of Emory University, USA.

Reviews

"Critical Craft is an effective contribution to the anthropology of craft, of work, and of 'thing' or objects. It clearly demonstrates that there is more to crafts of all sorts than 'tradition,' expertise, and 'authenticity.' Anthropologists and others must be wary of assumptions about who does what kind of work or possesses what kind of knowledge, and we must be, like the authors of these quality essays, aware of the (unequal) agency of individuals and groups as they struggle within the field of any particular craft industry. - Anthropology Review Database - Jack David Eller [The book] has extended my understanding of craft as an integral part of contemporary global change ... It puts forward a convincing case for craft as a fruitful topic of study for social science scholars. - International Journal of Education Through Art"