This book explores the use of handmade crafts as a vehicle for protest. Craftivism has experienced a resurgence in recent years, often in direct response to the social, environment and political concerns of those who engage in the practice. Acts of craftivism raise important questions for criminologists about the use of public space, power, and resistance. McGovern focuses on an example of the 'craftivist' movement that has been steadily gaining momentum since the early to mid-2000s: yarn bombing. As an urban craft movement that melds the skills of knitting or crochet with the act of graffiti, yarn bombing has the potential to contribute to criminological understandings of graffiti and street art, particularly on issues of gender, perceptions of and motivations for graffiti, and the commodification of crime. Drawing on interviews with yarn bombers and craftivists, Craftivism and Yarn Bombing explores how such acts can be understood and explored through a criminological lens,and will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including criminology, sociology, cultural studies, gender studies, and urban studies.

Redresses the omission of craftivism from criminological analyses of protest and direct action Draws on ethnographic fieldwork, including interviews with yarn bombers and craftivists Analyses of a range of media texts and secondary data relating to craftivism

Autorentext
Alyce McGovern is Associate Professor in Criminology in the School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia.

Zusammenfassung
Drawing on interviews with yarn bombers and craftivists, Craftivism and Yarn Bombing explores how such acts can be understood and explored through a criminological lens,and will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including criminology, sociology, cultural studies, gender studies, and urban studies.

Inhalt

TABLE OF FIGURES INTRODUCTION THE RESEARCH PROJECT AND ITS AIMS Yarn bombing and craftivism CHAPTER OVERVIEW UNRAVELLING THE THREADS: CONTEMPORARY CRAFTIVISM AND ITS ORIGINS THE ORIGINS OF CRAFTIVISM War craftivism Anti-colonial and anti-slavery craftivism Economic and anti-capitalist craftivism Environmental and eco-craftivism Health craftivism Social justice craftivism Gendered violence and bodily autonomy craftivism THE LOGICS OF CRAFTIVISM THE ITCH TO STITCH: YARN BOMBERS AND THEIR MOTIVATIONS 58DEFINING YARN BOMBING THE ORIGINS OF YARN BOMBING Controversies and criticisms UNDERSTANDING YARN BOMBERS AND THEIR MOTIVATIONS Making people smile, generating joy, and beautification Reclaiming and softening of public space, rejecting commercialisation, and building communities Raising awareness, memorialisation, and promoting communities Making a statement, protest and championing change CRAFT ATTACK: THE FRAMING OF YARN BOMBING CRIME, CRIMINALITY AND LEGAL FRAMING OF YARN BOMBING Framing yarn bombers: Destructive criminals or harmless knitters?HOW YARN BOMBERS FRAME THEIR PRACTICE Deviance, risk and subversion Thrill-seeking, edgework and the carnival of crime CRAFTY CRIMES: THE CRIMINOLOGY OF CRAFTIVISM RESEARCH FINDINGS REFERENCE LIST