Craftivism and Gendered Practices in Contemporary Culture

Craftivism, a portmanteau of craft and activism, encompasses the deliberate use of textile practices, needlework and handmade objects to articulate social, political and environmental critiques. Emerging from a lineage of women’s domestic arts, contemporary craftivism intersects with feminist and intersectional discourses to challenge gendered norms and revalue traditional crafts as sites of resistance. Practitioners employ techniques such as knitting, sewing, embroidery and visible mending to draw attention to labour injustices, ecological harm and gender inequality, reframing crafts as embodied practices that disrupt the boundaries between public and private spheres. The movement’s global reach is evident in grassroots campaigns, workshops and digital exchanges that foster collective solidarity, while also emphasising individual creativity and skill. In doing so, craftivism offers a multimodal language that blends material engagement with critical reflection and has practical applications in community building, policy advocacy and educational contexts.

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Craftivism and Gendered Practices in Contemporary Culture publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in craftivism and gendered practices in contemporary culture across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Craftivism: The practice of using crafts—such as knitting or embroidery—as forms of social and political activism.

Visible mending: A textile repair technique that deliberately highlights rather than conceals damage, serving as a metaphor for ecological and labour justice.

Digital materiality: The concept describing how digital media and physical materials interact and shape embodied learning experiences.

Intersectionality: A framework for analysing how multiple axes of identity and structural inequality—such as gender, class and ethnicity—intersect in social practices.

References

1. COVID, clay, and the digital: The role of digital media in pottery skill development during the COVID-19 pandemic in Britain. Journal of Material Culture (2023).
2. Crafting Recognition: Understanding Gendered and Ethnicised Experiences in an Arts-Based Integration Project. Arts (2023).
3. Visible Mending, Street Stitching, and Embroidered Handkerchiefs: How Craftivism is Being Used to Challenge the Fashion Industry. International Journal for Crime Justice and Social Democracy (2022).