The Craft Ideal and the Integration of Work: A Study of Potters

Abstract

Contemporary self-employed "home" craftspeople are considered in relation to an "ideal type" of craft worker described by C. Wright Mills and others. The ideal stresses absorption in the craft, control over the production process, the use and development of skill, and integration of work with non work. De-skilling and other consequences of employment frequently subvert the ideal, but under conditions of public demand for handcrafted work and self-employment by craftspeople, the ideal may be approached. In a questionnaire study of 67 New Zealand commercial potters, it was found that their perception of their work was largely in accord with the ideal, and, in particular, that work was highly integrated with other aspects of their lives. However, in most cases, the ideal was partly subverted by their status as traders in a market economy and their needs for economic as well as expressive satisfactions.