New forms of organizing occupational work: Craft-based reconfiguration through enchanting occupational objects, humanizing roles and grounding purposes
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2024-07-05
Author(s)
Abstract
Abstract
In this paper, we build on the emerging craft perspective on work to imagine alternative occupational trajectories and explore the craft-based reconfiguration of occupational fields. We challenge the conventional imagery of bureaucratic professionalization and the inherent supremacy of formal expertise by arguing that craft imaginaries can be drawn into occupational fields and reconsecrate embodied and relational forms of knowing and practicing. We draw on various phenomenological examples to imagine three relevant dynamics that craft imaginaries can elicit: (1) enchanting occupational objects, (2) humanizing occupational roles and (3) grounding occupational purposes. We suggest that these dynamics can inspire change in occupational practices, status hierarchies, and the demography of practitioners. We discuss how such dynamics may be observed across a variety of occupational fields and how our theory can shed new light on important occupational dynamics in the 21st century.
In this paper, we build on the emerging craft perspective on work to imagine alternative occupational trajectories and explore the craft-based reconfiguration of occupational fields. We challenge the conventional imagery of bureaucratic professionalization and the inherent supremacy of formal expertise by arguing that craft imaginaries can be drawn into occupational fields and reconsecrate embodied and relational forms of knowing and practicing. We draw on various phenomenological examples to imagine three relevant dynamics that craft imaginaries can elicit: (1) enchanting occupational objects, (2) humanizing occupational roles and (3) grounding occupational purposes. We suggest that these dynamics can inspire change in occupational practices, status hierarchies, and the demography of practitioners. We discuss how such dynamics may be observed across a variety of occupational fields and how our theory can shed new light on important occupational dynamics in the 21st century.
Event Title
40th EGOS Colloquium
Event Location
University of Milano-Bicocca
Event Date
4.-6.7.2024
Contact Email Address
judith.nyfeler@unisg.ch