Is handicraft sustainable? - A qualitative study about craft, society and environment

The aim of this thesis is to study craftsperson’s thoughts about sustainability and handicraft. The thesis is focusing on three craftsperson’s who work professionally with sloyd and handicraft. The major objective of this study is to clarify different or equal perceptions about sustainability and handicraft. The study examines three craftsperson’s within the handicraft community through in-depth interviews. The interviews aim to explore the craftsmen’s thoughts and attitudes regarding questions about handicraft, sustainable development, community and human aspects. The overall aim is to highlight the relationship between craft and sustainability, within the field. The analysis of the conducted interviews shows that the aspects on sustainability and handicraft are various and complicated to define. During the interviews the craftsmen defined that sloyd and sustainability is consistent only if the definition of sloyd means to use local material and simple methods to make things to use. The result of the interviews shows that it is inevitable to take into account aspects about ecology, economy and social health when studying attitudes about handicraft and sustainability.Uppsats för avläggande av filosofie kandidatexamen i Kulturvård, Ledarskap i slöjd och kulturhantverk 15 hp Institutionen för kulturvård Göteborgs universitet 2016:1