Ethical Value: ‘Buying handmade is better’
The ethical value of crafts has been magnified by the public awareness of current ecological issues. Ecological issues are a direct drive in the re-estimation of crafts, and crafts have represented sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyles through their materials and uses (Na 2008). With this understanding, this paper focuses on crafts-consumers’ ethical values, the meanings of the word ‘better’, and the relationship between consumer motivation for buying crafts and the crafts themselves; it is commonly believed that ‘buying handmade is better for people and for the environment’ (Walker 2007).
Crafts-consumers behaviours in respect to environmental issues can be analysed by two different perspectives through collected interviews. First, the altruistic ‘better’ value, is an externalised value for crafts-consumers and is related to concerns for the environment and climate change; a fraternal conception toward crafts emanating from some social influence, e.g. against anti-sweat shop products.
I am very interested in handcrafted products with recycled materials. In this day of mass consumption it is so important to find alternative uses of everyday items. … I love the idea of remaking – sort of infusing the breath of new life to items. It is unique and better for the earth. I like to recycle clip-on vintage earrings. It's very rewarding to bring life back to something that was tossed and forgotten. (Quotes from in-depth interview with S. Reedy, Etsy conversation, 10.03.2010)
Ecological concerns seem to be a fundamental ethical value for crafts-consumers, which will continue to become more important and an unavoidable issue in consuming products. Crafts-consumers often compared crafts with industrial forms of production, and the meaning of ‘better’ was to contrast with products that pollute the environment indiscriminately. The above interview excerpt can be interpreted with an idea from Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. McDonough and Braungart, who promote designs that will provide nourishment for something further after their useful lives have transpired, state that the goal of upcycling is to curb the wasting of potentially useful materials by making use of existing ones (McDonough and Braungart 2002). Unlike industrial designed products which have a short life cycle due to trends or advanced technology, the life cycle of crafts in general circulates for a longer time. Considering this manufacturing issue in advance is significant for crafts as well. With the crafts-consumers’ deeply embedded conceptions that crafts are more eco-friendly, craftspeople shoulder the responsibility of regenerating new values as makers, and meeting consumers’ expectations. Contemporary crafts can more actively play the role of taking social responsibility in giving old products more value with craftsmanship.
Mass production is a major cause of global warming. That’s one of the main reasons why I prefer to buy handmade items particularly made in local [sic]. Buying handcrafts is an alternative, and buying local crafts is a basic practice for a green environment. (Quotes from interview with an anonymous participant, Helsinki, 13.11.2010)
McDonough and Braungart (2002: 123) illustrate that crafts are not limited to using local materials, but they do begin with them; an important aspect in their thesis that ‘all sustainability is local’ (McDonough and Braungart 2002: 123). This highlights the relationships between local crafts and consumers’ conscious value systems. Crafts- consumers’ affection for local crafts can be understood as an association of ethical value toward environment. This concern stems from the ‘local movement’ which became particularly popular in food markets and demonstrated that local purchasing can be a basic solution for ecological sustainability in consumption. Similarly, crafts-consumers tend to regard crafts as alternatives and better choices compared to industrial products
when considering environmental issues. It is believed that buying and using handcrafts is more ethically sound.
In addition to the altruistic meaning of ‘better’ value, there is a self-centred understanding of ‘better’. In this context, self-centred ‘better’ stands for a more internalised value, relating to personal satisfaction and self-development as an extended value system within ecological concerns. Ethical values concerning the environment are also in a sense for oneself and for a self-sustainable life, not just for the other-regarding pole of altruistic value. Altruistic and self-centred values can overlap, but interviewees’ conceptions of their value toward crafts tended to delineate between the two. Based upon crafts-consumers’ beliefs that ways of processing crafts are more eco-friendly compared with those of industrial products, purchasing and using crafts is regarded as one of the idealistic ways to realise a higher quality of life. In coping with issues of sustainability, their concern about improved individual well-being is seen as a vital value that is naturally combined with their attitude toward crafts.
According to Milbrath’s, pursuit of the high quality life is the core of a sustainable system for society (Milbrath 1989). Crafts-consumers’ opinions on whether crafts bring an alternative measure in coping with issues of sustainability were revealed when they focused on their concerns about individual well-being. After a one-day craft excursion, most participants indicated a hope for sustainable coexistence and co-prosperity with their natural environment, and a simultaneously guaranteed higher quality of living. For crafts-consumers, concerns for ecological sustainability might be an innate value, but an ostensible value was the expectation for a better quality of life through crafts.
This is not harmful to our body at all because we are dyeing with natural dyestuffs. My first-hand crafts made in this crafts village are meaningful objects because I made them with my kids. Above all, it was a good educational opportunity for my kids. … For me, experiencing wood crafts during the weekend at this crafts village outside Seoul was also like a stage of self-development in my life. (Quotes from in- depth interview with anonymous Korean participant. Ilsan, 11.8. 2007. Translated from Korean by Y. Na 2008)
Interviewees frequently mentioned variations on concepts like ‘upgraded life’, ‘well- being’, and ‘eco-friendly life’ when discussing these crafts-based activities. In the processes of making, purchasing, and enjoying crafts, participants felt their quality of life had been enhanced. This indicates that craft activities are an intermediate tool that enriches the lives of modern people who cannot experience the harmony of nature in their lives on a day-to-day basis (Na 2008). An interesting finding from the interviewees is, that when asked to track the reasons behind their initial interest in crafts activities, they cited a desire to experience nature, but they also noted influences from the media. For instance, magazines for ladies tend to describe women crafters or DIY hobbyists (especially housewives) who upcycle ordinary materials as role models for the ‘wise woman’, enjoying a happy life and taking steps to a life of well-being.
On the other hand, some interviewees’ consumption of crafts was seen as a matter of social responsibility, or described as a ‘duty’. Since people from higher socio-economic groups have a higher concern for environmental issues, there was the opinion that the new concept for crafts was recognized as a social trend, involving participants in the society and community. One of the interviewees carefully noted that crafts-consumption was sometimes an intentional choice in response to social coercion; a manifestation of crowd psychology. She explained, ‘Buying organic food and handcrafts are equal concepts for me. I may look less ethical and less educated due to current social trends if I pick cheaper machine-made goods even though there are handmade goods of the same quality.’ This aspect can be observed when people belonging to the same social class share the same pattern of objects; the ‘panoply effect’, in which the illusion of collective belonging is created by using certain products in the consumer society (Baudrillard 1998) or by ‘distinction’ (Bourdieu 1984) from the other classes.
Post-Crafts-Consumers’ Desire
When a thing ‘means something’ to someone, it is interpreted in the context of past experiences, either consciously, or unconsciously in the form of habit. … Relations with material things have powerful consequences for human experience. (Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton 1981)
Crafts convey and contain meaning. The meaning can be added to crafts directly or indirectly. On my Etsy shop, customers could choose from a variety of gemstones for a necklace or pair of earrings. Some of these gemstones corresponded with the modern birthstones allowing customers to personalise the jewellery piece to make a more meaningful gift. Also popular on Etsy are personalised crafts with messages from the giver to the recipient; a visibly more direct addition of meaning due to the personalised message. Personally meaningful words or names, or even just initials, are either printed or engraved on various crafts such as ceramics, textiles, or small wooden objects. One of my customers left a Conversation message to indicate the letters she wanted on a pendant, sharing her story behind the gift: ‘ “KIAN” is to be engraved. … It's for my friend who just had a baby boy named “Kian”, it's a little treat for her.’ Another customer who requested a customized necklace asked me:
I am looking for a way to customize a bird nest necklace for my mother-in-law who has two sons and now a granddaughter. Is there a way to get a necklace that has two normal-sized blue turquoise stones and a smaller pink coral stone to signify the baby girl? (Quotes from Etsy conversation with M. Deiss, Etsy, 28.11.2010)
In this way it became a personally more meaningful gift. Crafts can convey one more meaning implying ‘this was made only for you’. The uniqueness of crafts in crafts- consumers’ values is not solely evaluated by whether it is a one-of-a-kind item. Crafts- consumers do not simply value the crafts because of the fact that ‘this is the only one in the world’, unless there already is some personal meaning attached. And some meaning need not be spelled out literally but can transfer indirectly with a mutually understood sentiment. Sparks, who ordered a necklace of a leaf pendant adorned with an olive jade, said: ‘This is for my friend whose daughter, Olive, was born prematurely and is currently fighting to live. It is for the mother to remember her beloved daughter, whether she lives or dies. What a beautiful reminder!’
In a crafts-consumer survey, crafts were purchased along three categories: giftware, homeware, and products bought for oneself (Crafts Council of Ireland 2006: 1-6). Similarly, in a research report of domestic surveys by the Finnish Crafts Organization, crafts were purchased as either a gift, or to be used at home (Luutonen 2007: 29-42). Consumption is always either for the self or for others. The traditional definition of ‘gift’ does not include the meaning of a self-gift, but crafts-consumers in my research tended to add special meanings to the crafts, buying crafts for themselves on special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, or graduation ceremonies. Crafts-customers on my Etsy shop often insinuated the reasons for purchasing an item. As one of my customers, Florence, said: ‘I have a “special” feeling with stones. For instance, I do believe that the labradorite earrings will “protect” me in some way. I think they will be perfect to encourage myself about my new job.’ Another customer, Monica, who placed an order of a necklace with twelve stones of tropical colours that can be interchanged, commented: ‘I've been hearting this necklace for a long time. The stones for warm, cool, pastel, vibrant tones remind me of my childhood, and of memories of every month. It's the most perfect birthday gift I can give myself.’ The new meaning was added by the crafts- consumers themselves regardless of the crafters’ intention. Some might argue that the meaning given to self-gifts are meant to justify the consumption, but crafts-consumers like to infuse the item with meaning to create an intimate relationship with a meaningful object.
Because of the uniqueness of crafts, they are always special topics in my life story.
… I save up my memory’s patterns into objects. Crafts have embodied memory of time and emotion. (Quotes from in-depth interview with J. Hong. Helsinki, 09.02.2011)
Crafts are a meaning-attached product; more so than factory-made products. They evoke personal memories and experiences. ‘Past memories, present experiences, and future dreams are inextricably linked’ to objects (Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton 1981). In addition, due to the fact that crafts have a longer product lifespan, their value and meaning accumulates.
This ring I am wearing now is actually from my mom, which was a gift from my grandma. This is very special for me. I will give it to my daughter one day. The design is not so unique, and is somehow a plain design, but classic. … It is the most cherished item for me because this ring contains my family’s stories along with three generations. (Quotes from in-depth interview with J. Mikkila. Helsinki, 19.11.2010)
Crafts were integrated into interviewees’ real-life stories. What makes their crafts more meaningful and special was their domestication: their incorporation into the realm of the mundane. Domestication processes generally have four phases: appropriation, objectification, incorporation, and conversion (Silverstone and Hirsch 1992). Unlike fine arts or industrial products, distinct characteristics of crafts such as functionality and longer lifespans, generate values through domestication by individual physiological or social factors. The value emerging in crafts-consumers’ everyday lives through domestication affects their future purchases.
In contemporary crafts, the value system of crafts-consumers is not simply built in buying, but is more complicated and affected by external elements. The desires of crafts-consumers are configured by explicit beliefs to create values. The post crafts- consumers will tend to desire more personal and meaningful objects. The relationship between crafts and consumers is an emotionally intimate link of endogenous meanings. Through observations and interviews I made a model of patterns (Figure 1) showing the process of how consumers form their own value system. The meeting point of crafts and consumers was consumers’ particular motivations and meanings which directly affect the purchasing of the crafts. In the broader view, culture and experience (e.g. personal experience or past memories) seem to simultaneously support the formation of value systems in the beginning stages. Crafts were divided into the purposes of gift and self- gift. The most important aspect in this value flow chart was the continuous addition of meanings in crafts-consumers’ everyday lives over time. In the personalisation of crafts, in carving out meaning, crafts are not just objects, but are meaningful objects as part of one’s self with embodied memories and sentiment from personal stories.
Crafts
Figure 1 Value of Crafts-Consumers and Cycle System
Well-being: ‘My hobby is making something’
I had noticed that the concept of ‘crafts’ was used with a broader meaning by ordinary people when conducting interviews. With an emphasis on the pure definition of ‘making’, ‘crafts’ is an intimate term for ordinary people. As with their hobbies or home decorating endeavours, crafts are creative works in people’s quotidian activities. The reason and origin for the ‘making’ activity, including DIY and ‘crafting’ by amateur makers in our lives, can be explained by an idea from Dissanayake. ‘Making’ in human activities is natural: ‘making and making special arise from human nature’ (Dissanayake 1995: 44).
Due to the fact that crafts contribute to self-development and people can feel the pleasure of creativity and fulfilling labour works, I think the idea of enjoying well- being via crafts is a widespread view in today’s culture. … I have so much work that I don’t have time to think about anything else. I feel this opportunity is like a tempo change in my life. It offers a chance to look back at myself. Unlike the rapidly changing world, watching and experiencing handwork processes develop step-by- step, I have learned the aesthetic of the slow pursuit of a higher quality of life and the maximization of it. (Quotes from in-depth interview with D. Kim. Ilsan, 11.8. 2007. Translated from Korean by Y. Na 2008)
After a one-day excursion to crafts villages surrounded by nature, participants frequently noted the motive and reason for the activity as ‘enjoying well-being via craft’. Crafts made by interactive participation in the craft activity turn into more meaningful objects through participants’ direct experiences with crafts. Participants valued using their hands and working to produce a concrete output: making crafts. Interviewees called it a mode of well-being for themselves, and regarded crafts as a facilitator for positive social change within the context of well-being.
Metcalf (1997: 67-82) highlights a difference in the meaning of ‘self-sufficiency’ between the traditional and modern understanding of ‘crafting something’. For example, the reason why today a lady knits a hat is not because she cannot buy it, but because she probably wants to make something she cannot find at the market, or something to which she can attach her own meaning; or she just likes to make something with her hands. As an alternative to modern consumption, making crafts is a means to satisfy certain needs and desires, and does not just arise from bare necessity. It provides personal value to the object and empowers individuals by involving and including them in crafts activities through ‘making’.
My hobby is making something. I actually took some courses to learn craft skills, but mostly self-studied with books and on-line materials. My house is decorated by my handwork, which I am quite proud of and my family love. … By chance, I went to a jewellery making class seven or eight years ago, and at that time I think I found what I really like and can be good at. The first time, I had to buy lots of tools and materials, and spent so much money. But I guess it was a good decision to change my life because I really needed to try to find who I was. It doesn’t mean I didn’t like my job, but I needed something for myself. … I like to do something with my own hands. It always makes me feel special and happy. This is one of the important things in my life. (Quotes from in-depth interview with S. Nyman, Helsinki, 13.04.2008)
Those involved actively in crafts explain that ‘making’ was closely related to their lives, and that it was often a means of empowering the self for a higher quality of living. One way to characterise crafts-enthusiasts with a drive for self-development comes from recent socioeconomic terminology: ‘People pursuing amateur activities to professional standards’ (Leadbeater & Miller 2004) are called amateur professionals (or, not unrelatedly, professional amateurs), shortened to ‘pro-am’. For pro-ams, the activities are not just instances of passive consumerism, but are participatory and build toward a
long career. This social phenomenon is particularly evident in the contemporary crafts field: enthusiastic involvement of crafts amateurs has positively repositioned crafts as a bridge that allows crafts and the engagement with them to contribute to social sustainability, connecting professional crafts to the public.