Supporting diversity and expertise development in the contemporary craft economy

本研究与手工艺委员会合作，重点关注手工艺经济中的专业知识和多样性的政治。在ahrc资助的创意经济参与基金（CEEF）项目（将于2018年12月完成）的初步工作中，该奖学金旨在研究社交媒体如何支持工艺多样性，并就工艺多样性和专业知识等问题做出智力、实践和政策贡献。该研究主要旨在质疑与手工艺经济相关的现有专业知识概念，挑战业余，女性化，工艺活动的概念，这些活动被认为与男性化的工艺形式相比，需要较低水平的专业知识，例如理查德·森内特（Richard Sennett）的《工匠》（2008）中称赞的那些。通过解决工艺专业知识的框架问题，本研究将有助于了解当代工艺实践中的专业知识，并为解决更广泛的创意部门不平等问题的政策建议提供基础研究。这项研究部分是由我博士对艺术家如何在社交媒体平台上发展和表达专业知识的见解所主导的。在读博士的时候，我发现那些有时间和技能在网上推广他们的艺术作品的创意人员能够谋生，但并不是每个人都有办法这样做。在现有文献强调创意工作的不稳定和不平等性质的背景下（Banks, 2017），来自所有背景的创意人员都能够获得所需的资源，以蓬勃发展和/或通过实践谋生，这一点至关重要。尤其是对于创客来说，自我推销的技能至关重要，因为预计创意行业将“回归手工就业”（Nesta, 2017）。因此，来自各种背景的创客应该能够发展销售产品的技能，并使自己在网上可见，或者至少从相互支持和在线连接的机会中受益（Patel, 2017）。然而，我的博士研究和目前CEEF的见解表明，女性缺乏使用社交媒体的信心和技能，尤其是来自黑人和少数族裔（BAME）背景的女性。这项研究将涉及英国各地的制造商和空间的民族志，以检查少数民族社区内发生的工艺实践形式。尽管过去已经对此类实践的各个方面进行了探索，例如Parminder Bhachu（2004）对亚洲时尚经济的描述，但本研究是在当代数字和文化经济的背景下进行的，旨在解决该领域的不平等问题，特别是性别和种族问题。该项目还将包括为创客开发定制的STEAMLab工作坊，作为伯明翰城市大学开创性的STEAMHouse计划（www.steamhouse.org.uk）的一部分，该计划为创客、科学家和学者开发新项目和产品提供空间和设施。STEAMLab工作坊将通过数字技能发展探索创造力和福祉的各个方面，鼓励创客通过创造性表达和与在线创客社区的联系，利用数字技术蓬勃发展。从民族志和工作坊中获得的见解将为手工艺委员会的研究策略和人才发展计划提供参考。一些对创客的采访将被打包和编辑成一个关于工艺实践的播客系列，并将在项目网站上发布。将与手工艺理事会一起制定一份政策文件，其中包括使用数字技术支持手工艺多样性的建议。作为该项目的一部分，我还将在伯明翰城市大学组织一次关于工艺和创意经济的专业知识和多样性的国际会议。以此为基础，我将编辑和制作一个期刊特刊，探讨会议上提出的主题和知识问题。

In collaboration with the Crafts Council, this research focuses on the politics of expertise and diversity in the craft economy. Developing initial work in an AHRC-funded Creative Economy Engagement Fund (CEEF) project (to be completed December 2018) which examines how social media can support diversity in craft, this Fellowship intends to develop intellectual, practical and policy contributions pertaining to issues around diversity and expertise in craft. The research primarily seeks to problematise existing notions of expertise in relation to the craft economy, challenging notions of amateur, feminised, craft activities which are perceived to require a lower level of expertise compared to masculinised forms of craftsmanship, such as those lauded in Richard Sennett's The Craftsman (2008). By addressing the framing of expertise in craft, this research will contribute to knowledge on expertise in contemporary craft practice, and provide the underpinning research for policy recommendations to address inequalities in the wider creative sector.This research is partly led by insights from my PhD on how artists develop and signal expertise on social media platforms. In the PhD I found that creatives who have the time and skills to promote their art online are able to make a living, but not everyone has the means to do so. Within the context of existing literature highlighting the precarious and unequal nature of creative work (Banks, 2017) it is essential that creatives from all backgrounds are able to access the resources they need to flourish and/or make a living from their practice. For makers in particular, skills in self-promotion are crucial as the creative sector is predicted to see a 'return to artisanal employment' (Nesta, 2017). As such, makers from all backgrounds should be able to develop the skills to sell products and make themselves visible online, or at least benefit from the opportunities for mutual support and connectivity online (Patel, 2017). Yet my PhD research and insights from the current CEEF point to a lack of confidence and skills with social media use, particularly among women from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. The research will involve an ethnography of makers and spaces around the UK, to examine the forms of craft practice which take place within minority ethnic communities. Though aspects of such practice have been explored in the past, for example Parminder Bhachu's (2004) account of Asian fashion economies, this research is situated within the context of the contemporary digital and cultural economy and seeks to address issues of inequalities in the sector, particularly around gender and race. The project will also include the development of a bespoke STEAMLab workshop for makers to develop digital skills, as part of Birmingham City University's pioneering STEAMHouse programme (www.steamhouse.org.uk) which provides space and facilities for makers, scientists and academics to develop new projects and products. The STEAMLab workshop will explore aspects of creativity and wellbeing through digital skills development, to encourage makers to use digital technologies to flourish through creative expression and connectivity with online maker communities. The insights from the ethnography and workshop will inform the Crafts Council's research strategy and Talent Development Programme. Some interviews with makers will be packaged and edited to form a podcast series on craft practice which will be hosted on the project website. In conjunction with the Crafts Council a policy document will be developed with recommendations for using digital technology to support diversity in craft. As part of the project I will also organise an international conference on expertise and diversity in craft and the creative economy at Birmingham City University. From this I will edit and produce a journal special issue which explores the themes and intellectual questions raised in the conference.