Lauren Baker

HEI: University of Dundee

Funding: AHRC CDA

Project Title: Unconventional Blooms: The Influence of the Craft Scotland Programme of Opportunities on the Development of Craft Practitioner Entrepreneurial Identities.

Link to Institutional Repository of thesis: Lauren Baker

 

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What was your research about?

There is evidence to suggest that craft practitioners find it difficult to seize their potential as micro businesses and sole traders (Nielsen et al., 2018). Despite much work at the intersection between craft and entrepreneurial practice (Pret and Cogan, 2018), research shows a gap exists between the needs of craft business and the support provided by national organisations (Fillis, 2004; Bouette and Magee, 2015). Despite craft practitioners’ reliance on a non-linear, project-based approach to their entrepreneurial development, a conventionally entrepreneurial perspective is regularly applied to understanding craft businesses. Through advocacy for limited models of craft business, many ‘unconventional’ (Guercini and Cova, 2018, p.36) models are left underexplored in literature. This has implications for the diversity (Eikhof, 2017; Patel, 2020) and longevity (Luckman, 2018) of the sector. However, craft’s tendency for activism holds potential for ‘political, economic and social transformation’ (Jakob, 2013, p.131) with many calling for the sector to be utilised as a space for political debate and action (Smith, 2016). As gatekeepers to opportunity and development, how can a national organisation better recognise the potential in the unconventional aspects of craft enterprise? Through the investigation of a key national craft development organisation, this research seeks to advance the debate about entrepreneurial craft activities in Scotland and harness a more unconventional understanding. Using Craft Scotland as a case study, the craft development organisation is presented as a dynamic actor placed within a complex entrepreneurial ecosystem. The vital relationships Craft Scotland upholds between the craft sector, craft events, and craft practitioners are explored in order to understand its position of influence regarding the development of entrepreneurial craft identities in the sector.