Craft Production

Craft production refers to work carried out by a skilled worker. Its aim is to produce not just a commodity but to do something well for its own sake. In craft production, work can be an end in itself, an expression of the individual's talents. It is not simply a [Page 431]means to an end. Craftsmanship means quality. Craft production is often said to be a less-alienated form of production than the machine-based mass production of the factory or office. The ideal of craft production is used as a standard against which other forms of labor are judged and measured. Critics of modern capitalism, from writers like John Ruskin, William Morris, and John Dewey onward, have looked back to craft production as part of a world that is being lost and looked forward to an age yet to come when its principles could be recovered. The acquisition of the output of craft production could then be, not the privilege of the few, but the basis of the life of the many.

All human labor involves some degree of explicit and tacit skill. Historically this has been so important that people have been named after their “craft”—smith, thatcher, fletcher, mason, potter, carpenter, etc. Early craft production is most associated with the urban labor of artisans in medieval cities where production was organized in small workshops and (though not invariably) guilds. Although goods were produced for sale, craft production, in principle, involved strict codes. Craft workers served apprenticeships in which they were introduced to the “mysteries” of their craft. An apprenticeship (often six to seven years) might involve 5,000–10,000 hours of supervised work before it was considered that the craft worker had been trained. The apprentice would then demonstrate his proficiency as journeyman by producing his “masterpiece.” The journeymen might hope to progress to be a “master craftsman” in their own workshops, joining the craft guild on their basis of their established “mastership.” So powerful was this idea of craft production that what we today consider the artifacts of high culture from this time—art, jewelry, furniture, sculpture—were actually the results of craft workshops under the control of artists, instrument makers, etc. as master craftsmen.

The craft guilds, often supported by legislation and local regulation, negotiated with powerful merchants and helped to set prices to avoid exploitation. They policed the quality of goods, fines for offenses against “honor and solidarity” being a significant element in their disciplinary actions. They oversaw skill development, provided a mechanism for the mobility of labor, and acted as a source of credit. They also formed the social and political basis of the life of the worker in craft production.

A 16th-century Swiss woodcut illustrates the traditional craft process of a small group of shoemakers and assistants.

But the social function of craft production went beyond the workplace. Craft work was seen as the basis of self-respect for the individual. People spoke of “craft pride” and “artisan independence.” Craft was also an important source of civic pride. It could even be the basis of political rights. Craft work was also seen as a quasi-religious vocation—craft was a gift from God and its support a celebration of God's gifts. Craft can be analyzed using conventional economics as a form of social capital. But to explain the role of craft production through a narrow economic calculus is to miss the way that craft production developed historically. It cannot explain its wider social resonance nor the way that today the output of earlier generations of craft workers still embodies our ideas of accomplishment and beauty.

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