Publications, articles, papers

Craft and the ethics of consolation: slow organizing in the Anthropocene

Authors: Rasmus Johnsen and Marta Gasparin

Abstract

This article develops the concept of slow organizing to explore how communities can respond to irreversible ecological loss in the Anthropocene. Drawing on ethnographic research with textile artist Birgitta Nordström, who weaves shrouds for stillborn children, we examine how time-sensitive, materially embedded and emotionally attuned practices can facilitate collective mourning. Rather than treating grief as a private or individual pathology, we argue that slow organizing turns mourning into a shared, generative and practical labour. By attending to the embodied, relational and anticipatory dimensions of this work, the article demonstrates how slow organizing can cultivate forms of care and responsibility that sustain communities facing ongoing planetary change.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘The biosphere in the Anthropocene’.

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Rethinking the histories and ideologies of entrepreneurship

Authors: Christina Lubinski, Léna Prouchet, Camilla Ferri, Nicolai C. Jepsen & Wanjun Lei

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is often celebrated as the pursuit of opportunity and venture creation, yet such perspectives obscure its broader historical and socio-cultural dimensions. This article advances the concept of entrepreneurialism as the ideology of entrepreneurship that defines who counts as a legitimate agent of change and which actions are valued. We engage ‘rethinking’ as a historically informed and critical practice that enacts a double movement: unsettling dominant narratives while affirming emergent possibilities. Drawing on insights from the interdisciplinary research project ‘Rethinking Entrepreneurship in Society,’ we mobilize craft and Indigenous entrepreneurship as historically rich provocations that expose assumptions in dominant concepts and open vantage points for reconfiguring entrepreneurship. This approach makes visible the ideological work of entrepreneurialism and opens space to imagine more plural futures for entrepreneurship theory and history.

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Methodological subversions in the absence of archives

Authors: Marta Gasparin, Martin Quinn, Steven D. Brown & Enrico Macciò

Abstract

This paper provides a methodological contribution around how the history of a sector can be researched when the records of the past have either not been maintained or erased. Set against the backdrop of Vietnam’s colonial history and experiences of political turmoil, we had to overcome this challenge creatively, understanding what made sense for that context, what could be asked, and how to collect data when it was not possible due to (auto)censorship or absence of archives. We developed two alternative methods of inquiry: mobilising objects to discuss stories that otherwise would be censored, which we refer to as an object-oriented method, and an art-based method, based on critical fabulations. We explain the challenges of using traditional business history methods in this context, present the process of developing these two novel methods through empirical accounts, and finally discuss the ethical implications and limitations researchers might face in their application.

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Commoning through institutional aesthetics: Crafting frames, boundaries and reflections in practice

Authors: Elena Raviola, Marta Gasparin, Helena Hansson

Abstract

In this essay, we explore Cooper’s theorizing of institutional aesthetics and technology to analyse a field study of a commoning process at a recreational area at Linnarhult near Gothenburg, Sweden. The paper focuses on a series of craft interventions that used the willow plant to make the area a common space. Using Cooper’s theories, we analyse the community craft activities conducted at Linnarhult as an aesthetic process of making a common space by crafting frames, boundaries and reflections on site. We thus conclude by highlighting the process of commoning through institutional aesthetics, and we reflect on our attempt to use Cooper’s theoretical ideas in analysing a concrete case. His emphasis and exemplary writing on the aesthetics of institutions has inspired us greatly, but our exploration has come with challenges and probably a deal of betrayal.

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Promotion in magazine Bornholm Craft Weeks 2024

Bornholm Craft Weeks is an annual celebration of exceptional craftsmanship. Enjoy 10 days filled with unique experiences, including workshops, exhibitions, tours, and special events. This year, the European Ceramic Context will present two major exhibitions, and the Bornholm Championships in Wheel Throwing will return. The dedicated magazine has been published and distributed. HEPHAESTUS project is features in the magazine, page 26.

A laboratory for future green solutions

In Journal for Crafts & Design Formkraft

Formkraft is a curated journal dedicated to contemporary crafts and design. Guided by an academic editorial board, themes and cases are carefully selected. Each month, Formkraft publishes 3-4 articles, including research papers, interviews, portraits, and reviews. Our mission is to foster critical discussion about crafts and design through socially relevant and professional topics, creating a nuanced narrative with contributions from a diverse range of authors. Formkraft illuminates, investigates, and contextualizes contemporary crafts and design.

HEPHAESTUS project representatives gave an interview that was published in the journal.

Reorganizing public value for city life in the Anthropocene

Authors: Gasparin, M., Quinn, M., Williams, M., Saren, M., Lilley, S., Green, W., Brown, S. D., & Zalasiewicz, J.

Public value and city governance are fundamental notions in contemporary settings, but, currently conceived, they are not fit for the challenges presented by the proposed new epoch of geological time—the Anthropocene. Walking through the locked-down streets or calle of Venice, we face the sudden emptiness that starkly reveals the impact of human activity on the city and its waterways. Reflecting on the walk, our starting point is to problematize how a city organizes and manages public value and what actually constitutes public value. In this, we develop a new definition, “New Public Value for the Anthropocene Epoch” (NPVA), which expands the notion of public value through the questions: “who” is it valuable to do things for, beyond humans and economic actors, building on a relational epistemology to incorporate the planet and its biosphere; and “what” is valuable to do, in order to ensure the inclusion of social, environmental, and cultural values alongside economic values. We conclude by arguing that NPVA is organized across scales in a manner that embeds global attentiveness toward local ecosystems solutions to drive the global response to the environmental crisis we all face.

With Latour in our hands: discovering the politics of organizing and the aesthetic matter of things

Elena Raviola (Business and Design Lab, Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden), Marta Gasparin (Department of Business Humanities Law, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark).

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to pay tribute to the work of Bruno Latour and its relevance for organization scholars particularly, by relentlessly going beyond the reified category of “organization.” We rely in particular on our own experiences of conducting fieldwork with Latour in our hands and expose our journeys, sometimes feeling naked, embarrassed and naive. By following traces of actions, paying attention to things and appreciating plurality, with Latour we have discovered the politics of organizing and the aesthetic matter of things.

Design/methodology/approach

We use our own methodological experience to describe how Latour’s work has helped us concretely. We structure our methodological reasoning around three excursions in the field, corresponding to our different fieldwork journeys. For each excursion, we rely on descriptions and reflect on how we have traced actions, paid attention to things and appreciated plurality, as set out in the introduction.

Findings

We render through excursions our Latour moments, that is, critical moments in fieldwork, where we get stuck and embarrassed and where Latour’s texts with simple questions help us move. Against the critique of ANT as being apolitical and unable to account for the body, we explain how we have precisely, through our ANT investigations, intersected between politics, aesthetics and organizing through three main ways of displacing us in the field: leaving a priori categories and questioning what we see; placing our view somewhere and moving it in an oligopticon-like way; and “thick thinging.”

Originality/value

The paper is a tribute to Latour’s work and wants to contribute to emphasizing his relevance for understanding not only organization in general but also the politics and aesthetics of organizing. We reassemble our fieldwork journeys and, despite their being personal to us, we believe that our learnings are recognizable and recognized by other scholars. We conclude with a research suggestion relevant to organization scholars.

Crafting Traditions and Speculative Imaginaries

Authors: M. Gasparin, E. Raviola, D. Hjorth

This review is about three exhibitions co-created within the HEPHAESTUS project:

Atmospheres of Craft (Palazzo Sturm, Bassano del Grappa, Italy, 27/05-30/06/2023), created and curated by D20 (Sergio Marchesini and Raffaella Rivi)
Semblance (Design Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2/05-10/05/2024), curated by: Alice Kettle, Jokum Lind Jensen and Rob Curran
Brave New World (an itinerant exhibition presented in Dals Långed, Bornholm, and Venice since May 2024, and will be presented in Bologna in 2025), created and curated by D20

Craft and the ethics of consolation: slow organizing in the Anthropocene

Authors: Rasmus Johnsen and Marta Gasparin, Copenhagen Business School (CBS)

Becoming a craft entrepreneur: reviving heritage through tradition, innovation, and community in the ceramic ecosystem of Nove

Authors: Francesca Leonardi and Luca Pareschi (Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata)

This paper explores the concept of craft entrepreneurship through the career trajectory of Pol Polloniato, a renowned ceramist from Nove, Bassano del Grappa, Italy, who exemplifies the role of an artiere—an artisan who combines artistic vision with traditional craftsmanship. Situated within the rich cultural and economic context of the Veneto region, the study examines how craft entrepreneurs balance tradition and innovation while generating cultural, social, and economic value. Using Polloniato’s professional journey as a case study, the paper proposes a four-stage model of craft entrepreneurship comprising cultural rootedness, experimentation, legitimation, and return to community. Developed within the framework of a Horizon Europe project, the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of sustainable craft entrepreneurship and offer insights for regional development policies aimed at strengthening craft ecosystems and supporting their long-term resilience.

Ethical and sustainable innovation in the EU craft sector: changes in GI regulation and impact in practice

Author: Associate Professor Vishv Priya Kohli, Copenhagen Business School (CBS)

Intellectual Property, Ethical Innovation and Sustainability, edited by Christophe Geiger

The European Union (EU) has increasingly prioritized ethical and sustainable innovation across multiple domains, including the craft sector. Embedded in cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and localized production, this sector presents considerable potential for sustainable development, contingent on the establishment of appropriate regulatory frameworks and supportive ecosystems. This chapter critically examines recent EU initiatives to extend Geographical Indication (GI) protection to craft and industrial products, evaluating their capacity to generate economic value, reinforce regional development, and incentivize sustainable production practices. It interrogates the multidimensional implications of GI protection – economic, cultural, and environmental – while addressing structural challenges, particularly for micro and small enterprises. The Hephaestus Project, a Horizon Europe initiative, is presented as an illustrative case, demonstrating how GI regulation, combined with complementary policy measures, can foster innovation, safeguard intangible cultural assets, and promote responsible production. The chapter concludes by advancing policy-oriented recommendations grounded in collaborative governance, adequate funding, and consumer engagement.

From visioning to crafting futures? Surveying the expanding literature on future making

Authors: Karl Palmås, Division of Science, Technology and Society, Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg; Ulises Navarro Aguiar, HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg, Box 131, Goteborg

This article examines the increased use of the concept of “future making” within futures studies and related disciplines. Specifically, it surveys articles in this journal and charts the extra-futures studies interventions that these contributions cite. In so doing, the article explores the cross-disciplinary roots and stakes of the concept. The text suggests that the recent popularity of future making within Futures signals a new tendency within futures studies: Metaphorics of design and craft are challenging the dominance of metaphorics of vision.

FabLabs as Promissory Organizations: A future-making perspective

Authors: Marta Gasparin CBS, project HEPHAESTUS coordinator, Daniel Hjorth (Lund University School of Economics and Management, Copenhagen Business School, and Kyoto University), Mario Campana Campana (University of Bath, School of Management), Maria Rita Micheli (IESEG School of Management), Amanda Shantz (Trinity Business School).

This paper examines FabLabs as machine-centred promissory organizations, where futures are not only imagined, but also materially enacted. Drawing on new materialist and process perspectives, we conceptualize FabLabs as promissory assemblages of entangled human and non-human actors, through which future-making is enacted. We show that machines are central agents for the materialization of imagined futures, especially for the boundaries they create between what is possible and what is not possible to actualize. Based on an ethnographic study of 20 FabLabs across nine countries conducted over twelve years, we identify two core processes – fabulation and fabrication – through which the future is first created and then materialized. Fabulation refers to narratively performed imagination leading to the creation of imagined futures, while fabrication concerns the material experimentation and prototyping to test and eventually materialize imagination. This study advances research on promissory organizations by revealing their material underpinnings; it also extends future-making research by demonstrating how futures emerge through iterative material-discursive practices, rather than through linear planning. Overall, the paper contributes a machine-centred account of future-making, highlighting how imagination, materiality, and technology co-produce what futures become possible for entrepreneurs.