Reimagining craft for community development

Abstract

In this paper we link contemporary thinking on craft and craftsmanship to concepts in community development. Craft is contrasted with popular development dogmas such as innovation, planning and the knowledge economy. Our aim is to reimagine craft as a form of production linked to traditions of trade-craft and blue-collar work, yet open to blending with the creative economy and innovation agendas. While emphasising tradition, craft can be forward-looking, experimental, adaptive and a driving force in the creation of successful places. We illustrate the local development potential of craft in a series of short research vignettes involving vineyards, community forests and market gardens. Ultimately, this paper challenges an increasingly narrow and homogenous range of one-size-fits-all development discourses and governance practices. Our aim is to create space for a wider array of valuing and strategising about rural community development, supporting robust and secure relationships between local endeavours and participation within wider economic geographies.