The Artisan Economy and the New Spirit of Capitalism

Abstract

Against the backdrop of deindustrialization and the rise of the service economy, small artisan businesses have been promoted as a liberatory alternative to large-scale enterprise and mass production in the wake of the 2007 global financial crisis. We analyze advice manuals for aspiring artisan entrepreneurs by adapting Boltanski and Chiapello’s (2005) framework and analysis of management textbooks to investigate books for would-be artisan business owners. These texts are “manuals of moral instruction” (58) that offer the reader the promise of a more fulfilling and ethical life through self-employment. We reveal that the artisan economy promoted by these advice manuals represents a further evolution in capitalism’s co-optation of the artistic critique via the oppositional strata of punk and indie youth subcultures—and their style.

Keywords

Critical craft studies new spirit of capitalism crafts craft entrepreneurship precarious work self-employment youth subcultures

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Express (2019) About shop small®: small business Saturday history page. Available at: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/about?linknav=us-open-shopsmall-globalheader-about [Accessed 6 January 2021].

Barrett

(2008) A stitch in time: new embroidery, old fabric, changing values. Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings 79.

Beam

(2008) The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real. Beverly, MA: Quarry Books.

Black

(2017) KNIT + RESIST: placing the Pussyhat Project in the context of craft activism. Gender, Place & Culture 24(5): 696–710.

Boltanski

Chiapello

(2005a [1999]) The New Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Elliott

Gregory

. London, UK: Verso.

Boltanski

Chiapello

(2005b) The new spirit of capitalism. International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society 18(3): 161–188.

Bouette

Magee

(2015) Hobbyists, artisans and entrepreneurs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 22(2): 337–351.

Brewer

(2017) Making the ‘handmade’ bike and trying to make a living: market objects, field-configuring events and some limits to market making. Consumption Markets & Culture 20(6): 523–538.

Castillo

(2020) Coloradans turn to mask making in time of COVID-19 to make money. . . and to help others. Colorado Public Radio News, 8 December 2020. Available at: https://www.cpr.org/2020/12/08/coloradans-turn-to-mask-making-in-time-of-covid-19-to-make-money-and-to-help-others/ [Accessed 6 January 2021].

10.

Chandra

(2020) Meet the first-time food entrepreneurs starting businesses during the pandemic. Food & Wine, 9 November 2020. Available at: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/first-time-food-entrepreneurs-covid [Accessed 6 January 2021].

11.

Chapin

(2012) Grow Your Handmade Business: How to Envision, Develop, and Sustain a Successful Creative Business. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.

12.

Chapin

(2014) The Handmade Marketplace. 2nd Edition. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.

13.

Cortés

(2020) Why is everyone so into making bread right now? Refinery29, 24 March 2020. Available at: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9596438/sourdough-bread-with-starter-baking-trend [Accessed 6 January 2021].

14.

Cortois

(2020) Expressive individualism in the new spirit of capitalism: mindfulness and outdoor management development. In: Bell

Gog

Simionca

, et al. (eds) Spirituality, Organization and Neoliberalism Understanding Lived Experiences. London: Edward Elgar.

15.

Couldry

Gilbert

Hesmondhalgh

, et al. (2010) The new spirit of capitalism. Soundings 45: 109–123.

16.

Culpepper

Gauntlett

(2020) From amateur to all-business. In: Naudin

Patel

(eds) Craft Entrepreneurship. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 143–160.

17.

Cutright

(2020) Can archaeology explain the bread baking craze? Sapiens, 17 June 2020. Available at: https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/can-archaeology-explain-the-bread-baking-craze/ [Accessed 6 January 2021].

18.

Dickie

(1996) Craft production in Detroit: spatial, temporal, and social relations of work in the home. Journal of Occupational Science 3(2): 65–71.

19.

Dickie

(2003) Establishing worker identity: a study of people in craft work. American Journal of Occupational Therapy 57(3): 250–261.

20.

Dolan

(2010) “This little ukulele tells the truth”: indie pop and kitsch authenticity. Popular Music 29(3): 457–469.

21.

Driebusch

(2015) Etsy Inc. Prices IPO at $16 share. The Wall Street Journal, 15 April 2015. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/etsy-inc-prices-ipo-at-16-share-1429132484 [Accessed 13 February 2016].

22.

Du Gay

Morgan

(eds) (2014) New Spirits of Capitalism? Crises, Justifications, and Dynamics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

23.

Etsy (2013) Redefining Entrepreneurship: Etsy Sellers’ Economic Impact. Availavle at: https://blog.etsy.com/news/files/2013/11/Etsy_Redefining-Entrepreneurship_November-2013.pdf [Accessed 6 January 2021].

24.

Garlick

(2020) The rise of cottagecore, and why it’s providing cosy comfort in these uncertain times. The Telegraph, 26 September 2020. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/life/rise-cottagecore-providing-cosy-comfort-uncertain-times/ [Accessed 6 January 2021].

25.

Garrett

(2014) Re-enchanting social work? The emerging “spirit” of social work in an age of economic crisis. British Journal of Social Work 44(3): 503–521.

26.

Gibson

(2016) Material inheritances: how place, materiality, and labor process underpin the path-dependent evolution of contemporary craft production. Economic Geography 92(1): 61–86.

27.

Groenevelt

(2010) “Join the Knitting Revolution”: third-wave feminist magazines and the politics of domesticity. Canadian Review of American Studies 40(2): 259–277.

28.

Gurova

Morozova

(2018) A critical approach to sustainable fashion: practices of clothing designers in the Kallio neighborhood of Helsinki. Journal of Consumer Culture 18(3): 397–413.

29.

Hall

Jayne

(2016) Make, mend and befriend: geographies of austerity, crafting and friendship in contemporary cultures of dressmaking in the UK. Gender, Place & Culture 23(2): 216–234.

30.

Hebdige

(1979) Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge.

31.

Hempel

(2020) Why cottagecore is the hottest trend on Instagram right now. L’Officiel, 20 September 2020. Available at: https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/what-is-cottage-core [Accessed 6 January 2021].

32.

Heying

(2010) Brews to Bikes: Portland’s Artisan Economy. Portland: Ooligan Press.

33.

Heying

Marotta

Cummings

(2016) Report of the Results of the 2015 Survey of Portland Made Members. Available at: https://artisaneconomyinitiative.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/portland-made-collective-survey-report-2015.pdf [Accessed 6 January 2021].

34.

Jakob

(2013) Crafting your way out of the recession? New craft entrepreneurs and the global economic downturn. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 6(1): 127–140.

35.

Jakob

Thomas

(2017) Firing up craft capital: the renaissance of craft and craft policy in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Cultural Policy 23(4): 495–511.

36.

Jakob

van Heur

(2015) Editorial: taking matters into third hands: intermediaries and the organization of the creative economy. Regional Studies 49(3): 357–361.

37.

Kelleher

(2015) Etsy IPO is a test for the tech market. Time, 5 March 2015. Available at: https://time.com/3733256/etsy-ipo-2/ [Accessed 6 January 2021].

38.

Kovesi

Kern

(2018) “I Choose To Be Here”: tensions between autonomy and precarity in craft market vendors’ work. City & Community 17: 170–186.

39.

Lazzarato

(2011) The misfortunes of the ‘Artistic Critique’ and of cultural employment. In: Gerald

Raunig

Gene

Ray

Ulf

Wuggening

(eds) Critique of Creativity: Precarity, Subjectivity and Resistance in the ‘Creative Industries.’ London: Mayfly.

40.

Liss-Marino

(2014) Sell (it) yourself: marketing pleasure in digital DIY. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

41.

Littrell

Stout

Reilly

(1991) In-home businesses: profiles of successful and struggling craft producers. Home Economics Research Journal 20(1): 26–39.

42.

Luckman

(2013) The aura of the analogue in a digital age: women’s crafts, creative markets and home-based labour after Etsy. Cultural Studies Review 19(1): 249–270.

43.

Luckman

(2018) Craft entrepreneurialism and sustainable scale: resistance to and disavowal of the creative industries as champions of capitalist growth. Cultural Trends 27(5): 313–326.

44.

Matchar

(2013) Homeward Bound: Why Women are Embracing the New Domesticity. New York: Simon & Schuster.

45.

Matthaei

(2015) From inequality to solidarity: co-creating a new economics for the 21st century. Unpublished manuscript. Available at: https://www.wellesley.edu/sites/default/files/assets/departments/economics/files/matthaei_-from_inequality_to_solidarity-urpe_reader_-_1_12_16.pdf [Accessed 6 January 2021].

46.

McCormick

(2015) How to make a million dollars on Etsy — buy from Alibaba and run your store like eBay. The Verge, 18 February 2015. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/18/8059835/how-to-make-moneyon-etsy-buy-wholesale [Accessed 6 January 2021].

47.

McNicol

(2014) Craft Business Heroes: 30 Creative Entrepreneurs Share the Secrets of Their Success. Twickenham: Kyle Craig Publishing.

48.

McRobbie

(2016) Be Creative: Making a Living in the New Culture Industries. Cambridge: Polity.

49.

Meinking

(2019) Start Your Own Crafting Business. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Publishers.

50.

Mignosa

Kotipalli

(eds) (2019) A Cultural Economic Analysis of Craft. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

51.

Miller

(2007) Etsy: a site for artisans takes off. Bloomberg Businessweek, 12 June 2007. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2007-06-12/etsy-a-site-for-artisans-takes-offbusinessweek-businessnews-stock-market-and-financial-advice [Accessed 6 January 2021].

52.

Miller

(2019) ‘Glorified Janitors:’ creativity, cachet, and everyday experiences of work in Portland, Oregon’s craft brewing sector. Geoform 106(11): 78–86.

53.

Mullagh

Walker

Evans

(2019) Living design: the future of sustainable maker enterprises. The Design Journal 22(1): 849–862.

54.

Myzelev

(2009) Whip your hobby into shape: knitting, feminism and construction of gender. Textile 7(2): 148–163.

55.

Naudin

Patel

(2020) Introduction: craft Entrepreneurship. In: Naudin

Patel

(eds) Craft Entrepreneurship. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 1–10.

56.

Page

Thorsteinsson

(2019) The significance of practicing craft in the modern society. i-manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology 12(3): 1–12.

57.

Phillips

Friedman

(2020) Etsy was a twee culture punchline. Now it’s a Wall Street darling. New York Times, 8 December 2020. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/business/etsy-masks-wall-street.html [Accessed 6 January 2021].

58.

Roberts

(2012) From the cultural contradictions of capitalism to the creative economy. Thesis Eleven 110(1): 83–97.

59.

Samuel

Kanji

(2019) Valuing creativity, feeling overworked and working hours: male workers and the new spirit of capitalism. Time & Society 29(1): 51–73.

60.

Scheerer

Cahill

Kirby

, et al. (2004) Cake decorating as occupation: meaning and motivation. Journal of Occupational Science 11(2): 68–74.

61.

Schmidt

(2020) Supermaker: Crafting Business on Your Own Terms. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Prism.

62.

Seitz

(2020) Design Thinking and the New Spirit of Capitalism: Sociological Reflections on Innovation Culture. London: Palgrave.

63.

Shah

(2020) The best pastries are now sold via Instagram. Food & Wine, 8 October 2020. Available at: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/microbakery-pastry-chefs-instagram [Accessed 6 January 2021].

64.

Sharma

(2020) Hand-crafted identities: sartorial taste and belonging amongst elite women in urban India. Journal of Material Culture 25(1): 60–75.

65.

Spilsbury

(2018) Who Makes? An Analysis of People Working in Craft Occupations. U.K. Crafts Council Report. Available at: https://www.a-n.co.uk/research/makes-analysis-people-working-craft-occupations/ [Accessed 6 January 2021].

66.

Surette

(2017) The influence of the Toronto-based one of a kind craft show on the professionalization of Canadian craft 1974–1999. Masters thesis, Concordia University, Canada.

67.

Thatcher

(1987) Interview for woman’s own (“no such thing as society”). Available at: http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106689 [Accessed 6 January 2021].

68.

Thurnell-Read

(2014) Craft, tangibility and affect at work in the microbrewery. Emotion, Space and Society 13(11): 46–54.

69.

Wallace

(2014) Handmade 2.0: women, DIY networks and the cultural economy of craft. PhD thesis, Concordia University, Canada.

70.

Watson

Shove

(2008) Product, competence, project and practice: DIY and the dynamics of craft consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture 8(1): 69–89.

71.

Watt

(2015) Business for Punks: Break All the Rules—The BrewDog Way. New York: Portfolio Penguin.

72.

Weber

(2002 [1905]) The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism and Other Writings. Translated by Baehr

Wells

. New York: Penguin Books.

73.

Whitney

(2013) Grow: How to Take Your DIY Project and Passion to the Next Level and Quit Your Job! Portland: Cantankerous Titles.

74.

Whitney

(2020) Quit Your Day Job: Build the DIY Project, Life, and Business of Your Dreams. Portland, OR: Microcosm Publishing.

75.

Whitson

(2019) The new spirit of capitalism in the game industry. Television & New Media 20(8): 789–801.

76.

Wilkinson-Weber

Ory DeNicola

(eds) (2016) Critical Craft: Technology, Globalization, and Capitalism. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

77.

Williams

(2004) A lifestyle choice? Evaluating the motives of Do-it-yourself (DIY) Consumers. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management 32(5): 270–278.

78.

Willmott

(2013) Spirited away: when political economy becomes culturized. . . In: du Gay

Morgan

(eds) New Spirits of Capitalism? Crises, Justifications, and Dynamics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

79.

Wyshak

(2014) Good Food, Great Business: How to Take Your Artisan Food Idea from Concept to Marketplace. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

80.

Yehuda

(2020) We are now suffering from a nation-wide Mason jar shortage. Time Out United States, 15 October 2020. Available at: https://www.timeout.com/usa/news/we-are-now-suffering-from-a-nation-wide-mason-jar-shortage-101520 [Accessed 6 January 2021].

81.

Yeritsian

(2017) “Capitalism 2.0”: Web 2.0 manifestoes and the new spirit of capitalism. Critical Sociology 44(4–5): 703–717.