The Craft Consumer: Culture, Craft and Consumption in a Postmodern Society

Abstract

This chapter proposes that social scientists should explicitly recognize the existence of consumers who engage in ‘craft consumption’ and, hence, of an additional image of the consumer to set alongside those of ‘the dupe’, ‘the rational hero’ and the ‘postmodern identity seeker’. The term ‘craft’ is used to refer to consumption activity in which the ‘product’ concerned is essentially ‘both made and designed by the same person’ and to which the consumer typically brings skill, knowledge, judgement and passion while being motivated by a desire for self-expression. Such genuine craft consumption is then distinguished from such closely associated practices as ‘personalization’ and ‘customization’ and identified as typically encountered in such fields as interior decorating, gardening, cooking and the selection of clothing ‘outfits’. Finally, after noting that craft consumers are more likely to be people with both wealth and cultural capital, Kopytoff’s suggestion that progressive commodification might prompt a ‘decommodifying reaction’ is taken as a starting point for some speculations concerning the reasons for the recent rise of craft consumption.

This article is a considerably extended and modified version of a paper originally presented at the ‘Consuming Craft’ Conference held at the Chalfont Campus of The Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College in May 2000.