Global Craftivism since the Pussyhats

This anthology offers a framework for understanding why people urgently turn to textile handwork as a site of repair in a world on the brink and examines how craft expression aligns with political activism in a sometimes quirky and always colorful way. In a world at a constant crossroads of despair and disruption, chapter contributors provide a clear-eyed assessment of specific craft-activism campaigns since the “Pussyhats,” focusing on the most pressing political issues of our time, as people seek to stitch a world aligned with their belief systems that is built on a DIY-ethos of hands-on community building.

The chapters explore the impact of craftivism in the late digital age, where hands-on production and creativity can serve as an antidote to the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence and a pervasive mistrust of political processes. Does craftivism serve any meaningful purpose at a time when it’s been increasingly corporatized in a capitalistic system devoted to profits and divisive sloganism? Can craftivism do more than amplify political divisions and reinforce suspicions of perceived ideological enemies, or can it model a more expressive and inclusive activist platform around the globe? With contributions from among the most prominent thinkers on DIY civic engagement, Global Craftivism since the Pussyhats: Handcraft Responses to Violence, War, Illness and Isolation, gives politically expressive crafting its due as a powerful social force.