If you’ve ever felt the need to stand up for your beliefs or support a political cause but find street protests too loud, shouty and aggressive, Craftivism might be your answer.
We’re all familiar with images of protesters chained to railings, yelling through megaphones, or clashing with armed police. Sometimes it can feel like political activism has no place for demonstrators who want to go about change quietly and calmly.
That’s where Craftivism comes in. This gentle form of protesting, taken up by hundreds of women, has enacted meaningful change within our society without picket lines, placards or vandalism.
It proves that social justice and fairness can be achieved peacefully, without violence or extremes.
What is craftivism?
Craftivism is activism + craft.
Betsy Greer first coined the term in 2003. A knitter and maker, Greer believed that artists needed a term to express how their craft was socially or politically motivated. She said, “The very essence of craftivism lies in starting a conversation. By creating something that gets people to ask questions, we invite others to join the conversation about the social and political intent of our creations.”
Peaceful protestors use knitting, crochet, sewing or other types of craft to build momentum around political causes. Craftivists, as they are known, aim to make art that provokes thought in a non-combative way. in a compassionate, gentle and respectful way. The slow, methodical nature of crafting is ideally suited to those who want to protest with respect and compassion. Craftivism is community-spirited, with craftivists using their individual power as makers to empower and inspire a larger collective that those in power can’t ignore.
Betsy Greer sums up craftivism as "a way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper and your quest for justice more infinite"
Early examples of craftivism can be seen in the UK during the Women’s Suffrage movement, when suffragettes sewed banners for their protests and in the 1920s, Gandhi spun cotton to inspire India to become self-sufficient instead of reliant on British-made textiles.
Why is craft perfect for social justice?
Craft springs from domestic, unpaid labour traditionally done by women. ‘Women’s work’ has been historically undervalued in our patriarchal society. Darning socks, knitting clothes, mending, and weaving wasn’t viewed as important as masculine activities.
Traditional women’s arts have also received less respect and praise within the word of fine art compared to the output of male artists. They were simply viewed as domestic duties that wives must perform rather than skilled art forms.
The arrival of the Industrial Revolution brought mass production and a decline in craft skills. This resulted in a terrible loss of knowledge and tradition, as many traditional craft techniques bore with them a rich oral heritage of folklore and song. Many domestic arts were outsourced to factories and over time people became reliant on buying textiles from shops instead of making or mending their own. The current fast fashion trend owes its roots to this societal shift. In a capitalist society, craft has become commodified. Emphasis is placed on mass production at low cost which undermines the time and art of traditional, pre-production techniques.
Craftivism is a way to reclaim the techniques and traditions of our female forbears. Far from celebrating domesticity or women’s oppression, craftivists embrace traditional techniques like knitting, sewing and crochet as vehicle for empowerment and positive change. In a world that wants us to speed up, craftivism poses a radical question in 2022: what would happen if we slowed down?
Post-pandemic many crave a slower, gentler way of life. A return to working with our hands instead of looking at screens and a way to fight social injustice that doesn’t put you in the firing line.
Why women?
Women have long used craft to challenge male authority and fight oppression.
The Suffragette Handkerchief is embroidered with sixty-six signatures of women who were imprisoned in HMP Holloway for their part in women’s suffrage demonstrations. Twenty-four of the sixty-six went on hunger strike during their imprisonment and fifteen were forcibly fed. Suffragettes also embroidered postcards and decorated umbrellas to spread the message that women should have the right to vote.
The Madres of Argentina wore white headscarves embroidered with birth date of their children and held weekly vigils in the Plaza de Mayo with the goal of finding the lost children who disappeared under Jorge Rafael Videla’s military dictatorship.
More recently, The Pussyhat Project, dedicated to advancing women’s rights through the arts, protested Donald Trump’s presidency by wearing bright pink, knitted hats in the shape of cat ears.
Because craft springs from traditional household tasks performed by women and has been used by women throughout history to gain rights and freedom, it’s become closely associated with feminism.
Modern craftivists see it as a peaceful way to promote social justice, honour the sacrifice of the women who came before them and reclaim historically disrespected techniques as art.
Craftivism vs Capitalism
Craftivism’s link with feminism ties it to anti-capitalist, anti-sweatshop and DIY movements.
With many starting to recognise the environmental impact of fast fashion, Craftivism’s slow-production and DIY attitude is perfectly suited to protesting capitalist mass-production and the social injustice of cheap labour sweatshops.
Craft came before capitalism from a time where items took more skill and time to produce and therefore were more valuable. The introduction of mass production after the Industrial Revolution saw a shift away from this mindset. Quantity usurped quality, and the textile industry revolved around creating the most product for the least cost. This method of production hinged on exploitative cheap labour and cheap material, leaving consumers to view fast fashion items as disposable. Quality and sustainability were (and still are in many places) second place to making a profit.
During the 90s, zines and a DIY movement sprung up in response to capitalism, with craftivists encouraging people to buy handmade or make their own garments by circulating free patterns and information. Emphasis was placed on the time it took to make individual garments versus the price to highlight the true cost of the fashion industry.
Buying vintage, recycled, or upcycled goods became another way to reduce waste and combat capitalism.
Today many craftivists target the fast fashion industry to highlight inequality and promote sustainability. Cat Mazza’s Nike Blanket Petition protested Nike’s inhumane production practices. As part of the campaign craft hobbyists from over 40 countries joined in making an enormous blanket of Nike’s famous logo.
Successful craftivism protests
Closer to home craftivists led a campaign that resulted in Marks & Spencer paying their employees the Living Wage.
For years, non-profits and consumers had put pressure on Marks & Spencer, one of the biggest retail companies in the UK, to become a Living Wage employer. Their pleas fell on deaf ears until Craftivist Collective’s Sarah Corbett began a gentle campaign to change the CEO’s mind.
With an uncooperative CEO and 5 weeks until the Marks & Spencer AGM, Corbett decided to target board members, chief investment officers and M&S models. Corbett assembled a team of 24 craftivists who were also loyal M&S shoppers to embroider messages about fair employment on handkerchiefs, that would be delivered to board members ahead of the AGM.
Each craftivist was matched to a board member based on their similarities. For example, a new mum was paired with a board member who had young family.
Messages like “Kindness is always fashionable and always welcome” and “Being good is good for business” were embroidered on the hankies alongside creative designs in the hope of inspiring empathy and action.
Corbett felt it was important that all the messages were positive and beautiful to give their campaign the best chance of being listened to.
In May 2016 Marks & Spencer agreed to pay above the current Living Wage rate.
During London Fashion Week, guerrilla crafters from Craftivist Collective employed ‘shop-dropping’ to make shoppers consider the impact of fast fashion.
‘Shop-dropping’ is the act of leaving handmade messages in garment pockets for consumers to find later. Members of Craftivist Collective targeted high street retailers, depositing tiny scrolls with their own ‘fashion statements’ inscribed on them.
One message read:
“If we are what we wear then shouldn’t we try to make sure that our clothes are made by garment workers who get paid well and treated with dignity and the planet is not harmed during the making of our clothes?”
WWF also successfully used Craftivist Collective’s ‘gentle protest’ approach for their Origami Migration campaign which aimed to save migrating birds from dredging.
Other types of craftivism
Craftivist methods of protest are as diverse and imaginative as the crafts themselves!
Here are other types of craftivism you could try:
Knit-in: knitters occupy a public space and knit or craft to draw attention to their cause. During the M&S campaign, Sarah Corbett invited crafters to a stitch-in, where they sat outside Marks & Spencer stories throughout the UK to gently protest the company not paying its employees the Living Wage.
Yarn bombing: Craftivists decorate trees, lampposts and statues with brightly coloured yarn to reclaim common areas and bring joy and beauty to sterile places. Knit the City, based in London, aim to "to guerrilla knit the city of London, and beyond that the world, and bring the art of the sneaky stitch to a world without wool".
Guerrilla art: guerrilla art is a street art movement that originated in the UK. Guerrilla art is designed to gently interrupt our everyday routine and make us question the order of the world around us. Sometimes the artwork is political but often its purpose is to make the viewer appreciate their everyday surroundings.
How to be a craftivist
The Craftivist Collective is the UK’s best-known craftivist movement. Founded by Sarah Corbett, the collective promote inclusion, positivity and creativity and their key aim is to challenge global poverty and human rights injustices with crafts.
Their website is full of free resources and advice on how to host your own event, as well as project ideas. You could try organising a group stitch-in or make ‘dreams’ to hang from trees on popular walks.
Whether your motivations are political, environmental, or anti-capitalist craftivism offers a gentle way of protesting that boost your mental health too. Mindful activities like knitting or embroidery offers a chance to slow down and organise our thoughts, or perhaps escape them altogether.
In a world that sometimes feels heavy and overwhelming, craftivism brings people together with positivity and empathy, and proves that compassion and creativity can change the world one stitch at a time.
If you’re keen to explore how your creativity can benefit your life and the lives of others, you can download a free PDF of The Art of Craft and Activism here.
Here at Nest we will shortly be supporting the local Climate Cafe with a Community Craftivism project for World Earth Day, so keep an eye on our social media or our Projects page for more details soon.
Craftivists unite!