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Crafted in America From Culture to Profession
Book chapter

Crafted in America From Culture to Profession

Shelby Solomon and Blake Mathias
The Organization of Craft Work: Identities, Meanings, and Materiality, pp.41-59
Routledge Studies in Management Organizations and Society, Routledge
2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315205861-3
Web of Science ID: WOS:000473648400003

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Abstract

This chapter elaborates on craftwork and craft entrepreneurship in the context of America. It highlights the themes that lead American craft entrepreneurs to abandon taking a traditional career path and toward a career in craftwork. The chapter illustrates how being an American and affiliated with a particular cultural region or identity inspires craft entrepreneurs to produce a particular product or employ a specific means of production. It discusses how craft entrepreneurs assess the state of the American craft category. Craft sentiments and entrepreneurs have also found growth within trades such as handcrafted soap, craft butchery and sustainably raised livestock, and handcrafted furniture. Craft entrepreneurs may come from a variety of backgrounds and operate a variety of different types of craft firms upon making the transition. However, a common theme is that craft entrepreneurs recognize traditional employment in corporate America is not for them.

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