Special Issue on Craft, Place and Community

The practice of craft is embedded in physical space. The studio, the workshop, and other spaces,
designed for various stages of the creative process, are important as lived spaces, invested with
meaning. Unlike a factory floor, these places are tied to the craftsperson’s kinship, identity, and
everyday life. In a review of Richard Sennett’ The Craftsman (2008), Chakravarty (2011) argues that
the temporalities of craft hold lessons for community building. Given the deep and multi-dimensional
relationship between craft, place and community, very little attention has gone towards developing
theory that interprets the connectedness of these elements of the practice of craft and community,
particularly in the context of the onset of automation. Consequently, the spatial and place-based
dimension of the practice of craft are largely absent from the policy discourse as well.

This special issue, drawing on craft traditions in South Asia, will focus specifically on recognizing,
interpreting, and re-valorizing, and the role of place in the practice of craft, including its social
aspects, such as the relations of social reproduction of craft (apprentice-journeyman-master), guilds,
markets and community life. We are looking for contributions, informed by empirical work, that
examine any of the following themes, though other ideas that address the concerns mentioned above
are welcome as well.
➢ Kinds of studios, workshops, and individual and collective work areas
➢ The role of the home in the practice of craft
➢ The architecture of the spaces of craft practice
➢ The role of the place of work in the community life of artisan communities
➢ The interrelatedness of collective spatial practices and the practice of craft
➢ How meaning is shared across spaces of work and everyday life
➢ Festivals and market-places where consumers access craft

The special issue is also important as a contribution to development of theory from the global South.
South Asia is home to a wide variety of craft practices that are a part of the heritage of places and
societies. Given the rapid economic growth seen by the region, and move towards industrialization
and automation, and migration to the cities, the preservation of craft traditions has been an ongoing
challenge. We expect that this project will offer policy-makers, interested in the preservation of craft
practices, a better understanding of the importance of the socio-spatial conditions under which craft
thrives.

Please submit an abstract of up to 250-300 words to suro@iitd.ac.in and devivijay@iimcal.ac.in by

June 19, 2023. We will reply within two weeks. A first draft will be required in October, and the final
paper near the end of 2023.