Craft and the Creative Economy

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Introduction — Craft and the Contemporary Cultural Economy: The Renaissance of the Handmade

   • Susan Luckman

   Pages 1-11

3. Craft Revival: The Post-Etsy Handmade Economy

   • Susan Luckman

   Pages 12-44

4. Crafts as Creative Industry

   • Susan Luckman

   Pages 45-67

5. Material Authenticity and the Renaissance of the Handmade: The Aura of the Analogue (or ‘The Enchantment of Making’)

   • Susan Luckman

   Pages 68-86

6. Craft Micro-Enterprise, Gender and Work-Life Relationships

   • Susan Luckman

   Pages 87-111

7. ‘Self-Making’ and Marketing the Crafty Self

   • Susan Luckman

   Pages 112-128

8. Craft Work and ‘The Good Life’: Creative Economic Possibilities

   • Susan Luckman

   Pages 129-151

9. Conclusion — Craft Micro-Economies: More Than ‘Cool Capitalism’

   • Susan Luckman

   Pages 152-156

10. Back Matter

    Pages 157-187

    PDF

Craft and the Creative Economy examines the place of craft and making in the contemporary cultural economy, with a distinctive focus on the ways in which this creative sector is growing exponentially as a result of online shopfronts and home-based micro-enterprise, 'mumpreneurialism' and downshifting, and renewed demand for the handmade.

• craft
• creative industries
• creativity
• consumption
• economy
• enterprise
• Etsy
• women
• authenticity
• gender
• marketing
• online
• Self
• work

“Craft and the Creative Economy offers a fresh look at contemporary craft entrepreneurs and gives an overview of the main conceptual debates behind the raised profile of craft and making as a new production and consumption trend. It also gives emphasis to the gendered aspect of this kind of entrepreneurialism as well as the role that online communication networks play in this social phenomenon. This book is an appealing read for people interested in cultural economies and lifestyle consumption.” (Paz Concha, LSE Review of Books, blogs.lse.ac.uk, October, 2016)

“Craft and the Creative Economy … considers the recent rise of craft and what obstacles and opportunities it presents for the contemporary cultural economy. … It will be of interest to a wide range of scholars researching craft in areas including cultural studies, gender studies, economics and labour studies, cultural and economic policy and development, craft theorists. It will also make salutary reading for those engaged in a craft economy that this book forensically describes.” (Catharine Rossi, International Journal of Cultural Policy, Vol. 22 (3), 2016)

• University of South Australia, Australia

  Susan Luckman

Susan Luckman is Professor in Cultural Studies at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. She is the author of Locating Cultural Work (2012), and co-editor of Sonic Synergies (2008), an anthology on creative music cultures and the global economy.

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