Craftmanship and society: thoughts around a concept

Abstract

Starting from a comparison of two national contexts – those of Greece and Italy – the author analyzes some of the social roles and meanings of being an artisan. While in Greece artisans are not always clearly distinguishable from artists, in Italy the variable use of this distinction partly reflects a complex social hierarchy with roots in medieval social structures – that is, from a period considered as a point of origin for the most prestigious crafts.  On the basis of fieldwork in Crete, the author shows how Greek artisans transmit to their apprentices social attitudes that reflect and enforce a deep sense of marginality from which few manage to escape. On the other hand, Italian artisans, strengthened by their medieval and Renaissance tradition, enjoy great social regard.  This is clear from the prestige associated with artisanship, a phenomenon that has favored virtually any product classified as “handmade.”  The exploitation of this phenomenon considerably increases the value of common or ordinary objects.  The mechanism in question belongs to the same economic logic that feeds the process of gentrification, causing the value of entire working-class quarters to rise steeply.  Thus, the artisans also often become victims of the same economic process.  They fall into the hands of usurers, suffer evictions, and are forced to abandon their homes and workplaces, thereby losing the advantageous geographical identity that is an essential component of the economic value of their craft products.