The Microfoundations of Craft Accessibility: How Social Interactions Open Up Craft

Craft offers a path to enchantment and meaningful creation in an increasingly rationalized society. Yet, engaging in craft can be difficult for novices who often lack the necessary time, networks, and resources. While a growing group of studies documents that creative crafts like beer brewing are more accessible to novices and amateurs than other forms of craft, we lack understanding of how craft is made more accessible to broader audiences. We explore this question with the case of the makers, a diverse DIY movement that embraces all forms of craft and making. Using interview and observational data from Maker Faires – events wherein makers exhibit their projects and invite attendees to take part in craft activities – we induce an interactional model of how craft is made to feel accessible by broader audiences. We identify four interactional mechanisms that enable novices to feel craft is accessible: two mechanisms which make craft knowledge accessible – providing craft scaffolding and transmitting craft knowledge – and two mechanisms which foster emotional connection to craft – relationality and cultivating fun and whimsy around craft. We further reveal the curatorial role of craft leaders, who intentionally design and curate spaces to provide opportunities for positive interactions around craft. Our model contributes a social interactional perspective to craft entry, theorizing the role of micro-level interactions in making craft knowledge and emotions accessible. We also contribute ideas about the role of craft leaders in curating brief interactions to both disseminate knowledge and build emotional connection to craft, the role of amateurs in supporting craft survival, and the emotional dimension of craft configurations.