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Working Through Alienation? The Ambivalent Promise of Craft

Schaefer, Stephan LU and Schneider, Anselm (2026) In Work, Employment and Society
Abstract
Craft is re-emerging in debates on improving contemporary work. A recurring theme in research on craft is its potential to thwart alienation, which is considered one of the central pathologies of modern work. Through a case study of the Swedish craft beer community, we examine craft’s potential for de-alienating work. Drawing on Jaeggi’s conception of alienation as a relation of relationlessness, we show that craftworkers cultivate relations to themselves and to their material and social environments. These relations foster receptiveness and transformation, enabling experiences of work as unalienated. Yet, craft work also remains deeply ambivalent: to sustain unalienated experiences, craftworkers must accept several downsides of craft... (More)
Craft is re-emerging in debates on improving contemporary work. A recurring theme in research on craft is its potential to thwart alienation, which is considered one of the central pathologies of modern work. Through a case study of the Swedish craft beer community, we examine craft’s potential for de-alienating work. Drawing on Jaeggi’s conception of alienation as a relation of relationlessness, we show that craftworkers cultivate relations to themselves and to their material and social environments. These relations foster receptiveness and transformation, enabling experiences of work as unalienated. Yet, craft work also remains deeply ambivalent: to sustain unalienated experiences, craftworkers must accept several downsides of craft work. Our findings suggest that de-alienation in craft is best understood as a continuous process of negotiating alienation, which is constrained by the broader dynamics of capitalism. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
Work, Employment and Society
pages
23 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
ISSN
0950-0170
DOI
10.1177/09500170261434883
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
66c40f72-da94-4102-8507-f633bc454b20
date added to LUP
2026-05-11 16:44:36
date last changed
2026-05-12 10:35:08
@article{66c40f72-da94-4102-8507-f633bc454b20,
  abstract     = {{Craft is re-emerging in debates on improving contemporary work. A recurring theme in research on craft is its potential to thwart alienation, which is considered one of the central pathologies of modern work. Through a case study of the Swedish craft beer community, we examine craft’s potential for de-alienating work. Drawing on Jaeggi’s conception of alienation as a relation of relationlessness, we show that craftworkers cultivate relations to themselves and to their material and social environments. These relations foster receptiveness and transformation, enabling experiences of work as unalienated. Yet, craft work also remains deeply ambivalent: to sustain unalienated experiences, craftworkers must accept several downsides of craft work. Our findings suggest that de-alienation in craft is best understood as a continuous process of negotiating alienation, which is constrained by the broader dynamics of capitalism.}},
  author       = {{Schaefer, Stephan and Schneider, Anselm}},
  issn         = {{0950-0170}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Work, Employment and Society}},
  title        = {{Working Through Alienation? The Ambivalent Promise of Craft}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09500170261434883}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/09500170261434883}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}