ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the craft in the developing world. Craft was the common mode of manufacture in the pre-industrial world. Most pre-industrial rural craft catered to local markets within the city walls. History contains several examples of flourishing craft industries – including India’s textiles and China’s porcelains – which centered on non-local markets. Craftspeople, like most poor communities, create and suffer from ecological degradation. They are deeply affected by ecological degradation caused by non-local agents, and the consequent scarcity of natural resources – including flora, fauna, water and earth, which are input materials in their craft. Craft capital is a resource that marginalized communities – such as ethnic minorities – can leverage towards economic and, thereby, social benefit. Craft consists of a body of cultural capital which is passed down from generation to generation. The transmission mechanisms of craft – including oral traditions and expressions, social practices and indigenous knowledge – translate into intangible cultural heritage and capital.
