C O N S ID E R IN G
• • •
C r a f t i e r
T h a n T h o u
e s s a y b y
Glenn Adamson
c o l l a g e
b y
E rica Harris
W H Y SHOULD YOU BE ANGRY, R EA D ER ,
ab ou t th e T V co m m ercial fo r th e n e w Jeep
G ran d C h e ro k e e ? A ft e r all, it is a p aean to
A m e ric a n cra ft. A n d it’s n o t o fte n th at a
c o rp o ra tio n lavish es p raise o n “ straig h t
stitch e s and clean w e ld s ,” o r p ro claim s,
“ A s a p e o p le , w e do w e ll w h e n w e m ake
g o o d th in g s, and n o t so w e ll w h e n w e
d o n ’t.” T h e ad vertisem e n t glo rifies th e valu e
o f th e h an d m ad e, and its retu rn in th e fo rm
o f J e e p ’s o w n w e ll-c ra fte d p ro d u cts. “ T h is
w a s o n ce a c o u n try w h e re p e o p le m ade
th in gs - b ea u tifu l th in gs. A n d so it is again .”
S o w h a t’s th e p ro b lem ? T h e m om en t
m y ja w d ro p p e d w a s w h e n th e v e h icle is
d e scrib e d as “ im ag in e d , d ra w n , c a rv e d ,
stam ped, h e w n , and fo rg e d h ere in A m e rica .”
I ’ll b u y im ag in ed , d ra w n , and e v e n stam ped
- b u t ca rv e d ? H e w n ? F o rg e d ? Y o u w o u ld
th in k th e th in g w a s m ade b y lu m b erjack s
and b lack sm ith s.
O f co u rse, n o th in g co u ld b e fu rth e r fro m
th e tru th . T h e G ran d C h e ro k e e is m ass-
p ro d u ced in a fa c to ry , lik e e v e ry th in g else
cre ate d b y Jeep and its p a ren t co m p a n y,
C h ry sle r. T h is seem s n o t to m a tter, b ecau se
in th is p ie ce o f fla g -w a v in g p rop ag an d a,
w e are fa ce d w ith c ra ft in nam e o n ly . T h e
artisan al has co lla p sed in to th e rh eto rical.
J ee p is n o t alon e. T h e sh o e co m p a n y
C a m p e r has a d o p te d a n e w m otto:
“ E x tra o rd in a ry C ra fts .” J a ck D an iels has
lau n ch ed a series o f ads fo r its w h is k e y th at
em p h asize s trad itio n al sk ills: “ T h e r e ’s
m u ch m o re to ou r h a n d cra fte d , w h ite o ak
b arrels than m eets th e e y e .” Y o u can g e t
“ fresh hand m ad e co sm e tic s” fro m a U .K .-
b ased co m p a n y called L u sh . T h e a e sth e tic
ran ges fro m h ip ster to o ld -tim er, m ach o to
g irly , b u t th e m essage is m uch th e sam e:
C ra ft is g o o d fo r y o u , and w e ’re sellin g.
It’s n o co in c id e n ce th at th e se p ro m o -
tio n al cam p aign s h a ve co m e alo n g at th e
sam e tim e as th e b est-se llin g b o o k b y
W hether it ’s advertisers touting craftsmanship,
macho mechanics with a superiority complex,
or craftivistsproclaiming their own virtues,
watch out: Craft is a lot more complicated than that.
m ech an ic and p h ilo so p h e r M a tth e w
C ra w fo r d ,
Shop Class as Soulcraft,
first p u b -
lish e d in th e U n ite d S ta te s in 2009. (In th e
U .K ., th e title w a s ch an ge d to th e m ore
p ro sa ic
The Case fo r IVorking with Tour
Hands.')
C ra w fo r d ’s b o o k is b ased o n his
o w n e x p e rie n c e o f h atin g th e “ co rp o ra te
d o u b le sp e ak ” he fo u n d at a K S tre e t lo b b y -
in g o ffic e , and fin d in g tru e h ap p in ess in a
m o to rc y cle rep air sh op. A c c o rd in g to C r a w -
fo rd , to d a y ’s w h ite -co lla r w o r k e r is asked
d aily to en gage in d e cep tio n , to “ p ro je c t an
im age o f ratio n ality b u t n o t indulge to o
m uch in actual reaso n in g.” H is re m e d y is a
d a y ’s (o r b e tte r, a life ’s) h o n est lab o r. T h e
stu rd y m ech an ic, u n lik e th e d em o ra lize d
k n o w le d g e w o r k e r, grasp s his o w n re sp o n -
sib ilities b y th e s c ru ff o f th e n eck .
D e sp ite C r a w fo r d ’s an ti-co rp o rate
sta n ce , his u n d erstan d in g o f cra ft is n o t
to o fa r fro m th a t o f W ie d e n + K e n n e d y , th e
P o rtla n d , O reg o n -b ase d firm th at created
th e J ee p co m m ercial. In b o th case s, c ra ft is
p re se n te d in e m p h atica lly m ascu lin e term s
- th e so rt o f th in g “ real m en ” o u g h t to do.
C ra ftsm a n sh ip is m o rally ch arg e d , a m atter
o f ch aracte r. I f C ra w fo r d e v e r w a n ts to
ren am e his b o o k again , in fa c t, he co u ld do a
lo t w o r s e than th e G ran d C h e ro k e e ad title:
The Things IV e M ake, M ake Us.
T h is te n d e n cy to eq u ate c ra ft w ith p u b lic
v irtu e runs rig h t across th e p o litica l sp e c -
trum . W e can find it n o t o n ly in co rp o rate
b ran d in g and an ti-co rp o rate ran ts, b u t also
in th e w ritin g s o f d esig n er and socialist
W illia m M o rris, in th e h a n d -w o v e n c lo th -
in g o f h ip p ies (sa tirica lly d escrib ed in
Shop
Class as Soulcraft
as “ th e o fficial c o u n te r-
cu ltu re ” ) , and in th e b lo g p o sts o f co n te m -
p o ra ry “ c ra ftiv is ts .” T h e s e p o sitio n s are all
p ro g re ssiv e and co m m u n itarian , and in this
resp e ct are d ire ctly op posed to C ra w fo rd ,
w h o m igh t b est b e d escrib ed as a co n se r-
v a tiv e lib e rta ria n (n o t fa r fro m th e
d em ago gu es o f th e T e a P a r ty m o v em en t).
L e ft- o r rig h t-w in g , th o u g h , th e se id e o lo g i-
cal e x p re ssio n s are all p rem ise d o n th e id ea
th at se lf-su fficie n cy is e th ica lly p re fe ra b le
to w o r k in g fo r T h e M an .
T h e r e is little d o u b t th at th e p o p u la rity
o f C r a w fo r d ’s b o o k , a d ve rtisin g a g e n cie s’
su d d en en th u siasm fo r c ra ft, and th e D I Y
m o v e m e n t are ea ch , in th e ir o w n w a y ,
sym p to m s o f th e recessio n . W h e n th in gs go
sp e cta cu la rly , c o m p lic a te d ly w r o n g , th ere
is a te m p ta tio n to g e t b ack to b asics. C ra ft
seem s to p ro v id e a sim ple so lu tio n .
B u t as th e frau d u len ce o f th e J ee p ad
su g g ests, w e n eed to ad m it th at c ra ft can b e
part o f th e p ro b lem , to o . W e liv e in a d ee p ly
in te rco n n e c te d w o r ld , and an y fa n ta sy o f
to ta l fre e d o m is ju st th at - a fa n ta sy - and
on e e a sily m an ip u lated b y b u sin ess and
p o litica l in terests alik e. S o m uch th e w o rse
w h e n c ra ft’s nam e is tak en in vain .
S k ill d o es rem ain a cru cial va ria b le
w ith in o u r n e tw o rk e d , post-in d u strial
so c ie ty . It n o d o u b t p la y s a k e y ro le in
C h ry s le r ’s p la n ts, w h e r e ta c it k n o w le d g e
o f all k in d s is p re su m a b ly v ita l. M a n y o f
th e a u to m o tiv e w o r k e r s ’ c ra ft sk ills w ill
n o t b e ap p lie d d ire c tly . T h e y ’ll in v o lv e
d igital to o ls , n o t h am m ers and ch ise ls, and
th e y w ill lik e ly b e in v o lv e d in th e m a k in g
o f p ro to ty p e s and fa c to r y in fra stru ctu re ,
n o t ju st fin ish ed cars. T h e y w ill b e in ti-
m a te ly c o n n e c te d w ith all o th e r asp ects
o f th e p ro d u ctio n p ro c e ss.
C ra ft, th e n , is n o t a sim ple m atter. It is
n o t a su refire an tid ote fo r “ co rp o rate d o u b le-
sp ea k .” C o m p an ie s u se (and abuse) it all th e
tim e. D o n ’t let an y o n e - an a d ve rtisin g
e x e c u tiv e , an a ctiv ist k n itte r, o r a m o to r-
c y c le m ech an ic - te ll y o u o th e rw ise .
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Glenn Adam son is head o f graduate studies at
the Victoria and A lbert M useum, London, and
co-editor o f
Jou rnal o f M o d e m C r a f t
102 american craft apr/may 11
