Critical Craft

Critical Craft PDF Author: Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000181774
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
From Oaxacan wood carvings to dessert kitchens in provincial France, Critical Craft presents thirteen ethnographies which examine what defines and makes ‘craft’ in a wide variety of practices from around the world. Challenging the conventional understanding of craft as a survival, a revival, or something that resists capitalism, the book turns instead to the designers, DIY enthusiasts, traditional artisans, and technical programmers who consider their labor to be craft, in order to comprehend how they make sense of it. The authors’ ethnographic studies focus on the individuals and communities who claim a practice as their own, bypassing the question of craft survival to ask how and why activities termed craft are mobilized and reproduced. Moving beyond regional studies of heritage artisanship, the authors suggest that ideas of craft are by definition part of a larger cosmopolitan dialogue of power and identity. By paying careful attention to these sometimes conflicting voices, this collection shows that there is great flexibility in terms of which activities are labelled ‘craft’. In fact, there are many related ideas of craft and these shape distinct engagements with materials, people, and the economy. Case studies from countries including Mexico, Nigeria, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, and France draw together evidence based on linguistics, microsociology, and participant observation to explore the shifting terrain on which those engaged in craft are operating. What emerges is a fascinating picture which shows how claims about craft are an integral part of contemporary global change.

The Crafting of the 10,000 Things

The Crafting of the 10,000 Things PDF Author: Dagmar Schäfer
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226735850
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
The last decades of the Ming dynasty, though plagued by chaos and destruction, saw a significant increase of publications that examined advances in knowledge and technology. Among the numerous guides and reference books that appeared during this period was a series of texts by Song Yingxing (1587–1666?), a minor local official living in southern China. His Tiangong kaiwu, the longest and most prominent of these works, documents the extraction and processing of raw materials and the manufacture of goods essential to everyday life, from yeast and wine to paper and ink to boats, carts, and firearms. In The Crafting of the 10,000 Things, Dagmar Schäfer probes this fascinating text and the legacy of its author to shed new light on the development of scientific thinking in China, the purpose of technical writing, and its role in and effects on Chinese history. Meticulously unfolding the layers of Song’s personal and cultural life, Schäfer chronicles the factors that motivated Song to transform practical knowledge into written culture. She then examines how Song gained, assessed, and ultimately presented knowledge, and in doing so articulates this era’s approaches to rationality, truth, and belief in the study of nature and culture alike. Finally, Schäfer places Song’s efforts in conjunction with the work of other Chinese philosophers and writers, before, during, and after his time, and argues that these writings demonstrate collectively a uniquely Chinese way of authorizing technology as a legitimate field of scholarly concern and philosophical knowledge. Offering an overview of a thousand years of scholarship, The Crafting of the 10,000 Things explains the role of technology and crafts in a culture that had an outstandingly successful tradition in this field and was a crucial influence on the technical development of Europe on the eve of the Industrial Revolution.

Critical Craft

Critical Craft PDF Author: Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000181774
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Get Book Here

Book Description
From Oaxacan wood carvings to dessert kitchens in provincial France, Critical Craft presents thirteen ethnographies which examine what defines and makes ‘craft’ in a wide variety of practices from around the world. Challenging the conventional understanding of craft as a survival, a revival, or something that resists capitalism, the book turns instead to the designers, DIY enthusiasts, traditional artisans, and technical programmers who consider their labor to be craft, in order to comprehend how they make sense of it. The authors’ ethnographic studies focus on the individuals and communities who claim a practice as their own, bypassing the question of craft survival to ask how and why activities termed craft are mobilized and reproduced. Moving beyond regional studies of heritage artisanship, the authors suggest that ideas of craft are by definition part of a larger cosmopolitan dialogue of power and identity. By paying careful attention to these sometimes conflicting voices, this collection shows that there is great flexibility in terms of which activities are labelled ‘craft’. In fact, there are many related ideas of craft and these shape distinct engagements with materials, people, and the economy. Case studies from countries including Mexico, Nigeria, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, and France draw together evidence based on linguistics, microsociology, and participant observation to explore the shifting terrain on which those engaged in craft are operating. What emerges is a fascinating picture which shows how claims about craft are an integral part of contemporary global change.

Engineering

Engineering PDF Author: Tom Jackson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781627951142
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Combining engaging text with captivating images and helpful diagrams, renowned science writer Tom Jackson guides readers through the history of Engineering in the 7th installment of the groundbreaking PonderablesTM series.

Craft, Design and Technology

Craft, Design and Technology PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Handicraft
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Technology, Renewable Resources, and American Crafts

Technology, Renewable Resources, and American Crafts PDF Author: Phyllis Windle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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Book Description


Technology, renewable resources, and American crafts.

Technology, renewable resources, and American crafts. PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428923829
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 58

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Book Description


Craft Design and Technology

Craft Design and Technology PDF Author: John Penfold
Publisher: Trentham Books Limited
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description


Roman Technology and Crafts

Roman Technology and Crafts PDF Author: Miranda Jane Aldhouse-Green
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Handicraft
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description


Science, Crafts & Technology Through the Ages

Science, Crafts & Technology Through the Ages PDF Author: Fiona MacDonald
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780754808503
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A highly visual, thematic history that traces ideas and developments around the world and through time.

Knowledge Networks and Craft Traditions in the Ancient World

Knowledge Networks and Craft Traditions in the Ancient World PDF Author: Katharina Rebay-Salisbury
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781135014438
Category : Europe
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
This edited volume investigates knowledge networks based on materials and associated technologies in Prehistoric Europe and the Classical Mediterranean. It emphasises the significance of material objects to the construction, maintenance, and collapse of networks of various forms - which are central to explanations of cultural contact and change. Focusing on the materiality of objects and on the way in which materials are used adds a multidimensional quality to networks. The properties, functions, and styles of different materials are intrinsically linked to the way in which knowledge flows and technologies are transmitted. Transmission of technologies from one craft to another is one of the main drivers of innovation, whilst sharing knowledge is enabled and limited by the extent of associated social networks in place. Archaeological research has often been limited to studying objects made of one particular material in depth, be it lithic materials, ceramics, textiles, glass, metal, wood or others. The knowledge flow and transfer between crafts that deal with different materials have often been overlooked. This book takes a fresh approach to the reconstruction of knowledge networks by integrating two or more craft traditions in each of its chapters. The authors, well-known experts and early career researchers, provide concise case studies that cover a wide range of materials. The scope of the book extends from networks of craft traditions to implications for society in a wider sense: materials, objects, and the technologies used to make and distribute them are interwoven with social meaning. People make objects, but objects make people - the materiality of objects shapes our understanding of the world and our place within it. In this book, objects are treated as clues to social networks of different sorts that can be contrasted and compared, both spatially and diachronically.