Craft Specialization

Specialization, the regularized or institutionalized production for use by and exchange with others, underlies social cohesion at all sociopolitical scales; it is as much a social phenomenon as it is an economic and logistical one. Craft specialization can be studied across cultures and time periods, from myriad theoretical perspectives and in conjunction with discussions of structures and processes of interest to many in the humanities and social sciences: subsistence, the social utility of material culture, political economy, power, sociopolitical organization, exchange, and the creation of meaning and value, among others. Using case studies from around the world, this Element discusses the evidence used to study the economic and social aspects of the organization of production, explores how different environmental, economic, social, and political factors affect the organization of production, examines the social impacts of the organization of production, and demonstrates how participation in specialized economic activities affects producers’ lived experience.