Photo W arrick Page for Getty Images
... C O N S I D E R I N G
A worker at the Saga
soccer ball factory in
Pakistan stitches togeth-
er panels. All soccer
balls are made at least
partly by hand, but such
jobs are usually far less
idyllic than they may
seem from afar.
relations disaster. T h e Jabulani’s flight
proved unpredictable, and players
dismissed it as a “beach ball” and a “ super-
market ball.” Goalkeepers suspected
a conspiracy.
Inevitably the furor drew attention to
the details o f the Jabulani’s production.
W here w as this strange thing from ? C er-
tainly not South A frica, the W orld Cup
host. And not Pakistan either, for the first
time in years. Like so m any global com m od-
ities, it w as m anufactured in China. A s a
short Adidas promotional film reveals, it
w as made in the manner that has led to Chi-
nese domination o f many global markets:
a combination o f repetitive handwork and
full automation.
Com pared to the roadside sheds that
Schanberg saw in Pakistan or the chaotic
scramble in G ursky’s photograph, the fac-
tory w here the Jabulanis w ere fabricated is
high-tech and im pressive. But one still w on-
ders w hat it must be like to w ork there. N ot
a single w orker’s face is included in the A d i-
das footage—only adept hands, going about
their tasks at incredible speed.
T h e real story o f the Jabulani, then, is
not that it’s difficult to kick or catch. R ath-
er, it is the w ay that it marks the speed o f
global craft’s politicization and ensuing
displacement. Pakistan, w hich once pro-
duced more than three-quarters o f the
w orld’s soccer balls, n ow produces less
than half. Part o f the reason for this shift is
the sensitivity m entioned above; compa-
nies have a financial stake in keeping their
reputations clean, and once established,
the sweatshop image is hard to dispel. But
it also has to do w ith the cycle o f global
production, in w hich different patterns
o f skilled w ork displace one another at a
bewildering pace.
M illions—some sources say billions—o f
people w atched the W orld Cup on televi-
sion; 700 million alone w atched the final
match. H ow many paused to w onder w ho
made the Jabulani balls? A nd how can w e
adequately formulate a politics o f craft
w hen our understanding o f w orking condi-
tions changes more slow ly than the condi-
tions them selves do? T his is the paradox o f
craft in the global context: A handmade
object can assume a leading role on the
w orld’s biggest stage. Y e t w hile there is
plenty o f information about unique and be-
spoke objects made by artists and designers,
the craftspeople w hose hands make the big-
gest impact—econom ically and culturally—
too often remain invisible.
♦
G lenn Adam son is head o f graduate studies a t
the V ictoria a n d A lb ert M useum , London, and
co-editor o f the
Journal o f M odern C ra ft
dec/jann american craft 063
