A Case Study of Ghanaian Basket Weaving

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)The modern fair trade movement and resulting network emerged during the twentieth century as a strategy to alleviate extreme poverty through creating equitable trading initiatives and markets. Since its emergence, fair trade has grown tremendously to include initiatives across the globe, particularly within the Global South. Although the intent to do good is present amongst fair traders, the impact of these initiatives remains rather ambiguous, especially in regards to culture. Using a case study approach, this thesis aims to identify the cultural implications of fair trade activities and initiatives on Ghanaian basket weavers and their local communities, and then determine the effectiveness of the fair trade movement in aligning intent with impact within this context given these findings. From there, specific policy recommendations are provided for future initiatives

Impact of Globalization on Small-Scale Artisans in Azrou, Morocco

Faced with the impact of globalization upon business productivity and the consumer\u27s expectations and demands in current-day Morocco, Moroccan small scale artisans are struggling to compete and earn income to survive. This new phenomenon is due to a smaller interest in the handicraft sector both by the state and by the young consumers, whereas until today, the most basic infrastructural needs for successful business such as affordable transportation and affordable means of publicity are absent in remote villages such as Azrou..

The role of craft in poverty alleviation in semi-rural communities

This treatise explores the role of craft and craft training as a tool within poverty it looks to question the sustainability of this approach. The research was conducted amongst three community school sites. These were structured to better the relationships between schools and community members, in particular school parents. As the data had been collected through open questionnaires, after the first phase of implementation, it found that each site was trained in entrepreneurship and a craft skill. These were exercised through a selling opportunity within the Sundays River Valley. Assessments of the project looked to question and consider not only the implementation and framework of the project, but the expectations of both the participants and the facilitators. The data collected was reviewed in regards to the SRV Project’s goals and successes, as well as the universal measurements of success viewed within craft based projects and programmes with a poverty reduction focus. Findings showed that the project, though successful in meeting the basic goals, faced challenges in regards to funding, time constraints, participation consistency and challenges in market and product understanding. Recommendations were made in accordance with indicators highlighted in successful and sustainable models of craft based poverty alleviation projects

Thinking Outside the Box: Strategies and Examples for in the Preservation and Development of Heritage

This paper present examples of positive economic and social impacts of cultural projects and mentions an interpretation of the positive interaction between development and culture. Several best practices are explored for each single topic and guidelines for future IDB projects are suggested. This paper complement the document: Thinking Outside the Box: Arguments for IADB's Involvement in the Preservation and Development of Heritage in which were discussed topics related to the role of culture in development and the social impact of culture.Culture & Arts, Heritage Conservation, Urban Development

Artisan sustainable livelihoods and the marketing of Myanmar handicrafts

This research investigated the livelihood of Myanmar artisans producing and selling handicrafts during economic and social transition. It described how Myanmar artisans maintained a livelihood, outlined the Myanmar handicraft value chain, mapped institutional handicraft marketing systems and developed a conceptual framework that could be used for handicraft policy decision making

Southern Fair Trade Organisations and Institutional Logics

This work is a case study of a Southern Fair Trade Organisation (SFTO), with the objective of uncovering the complexities of working within Fair Trade (FT) and Mainstream Markets (MM) simultaneously. It employs the concept of ‘institutional logics’ (IL) to analyse and suggest resolutions to the mainstreaming dilemma from an organisational perspective. The SFTO chosen for the case study is Allpa, based in Lima, Peru, which has been operating in the market for 30 years. The research questions addressed were: 1. What is an organisation’s experience of dealing with multiple logics? 2. How does an organisation respond to potential tensions and contradictions arising from being surrounded by multiple logics? 3. How is the organisation’s identity shaped in the process? This research makes a contribution to both FT and IL literature by illuminating the complex setting of SFTOs in which the logics of FT, MM and Local Producers (LP) are all prominent. I found that organisational structure, communication and flexibility can change how an organisation experiences logic multiplicity. Through changing its organisational structure and communication methods, Allpa has managed to increase the degree of compatibility between the different logics. As a result, Allpa has combined and blended the three logics creating a hybrid organisational form with a new identity and has become a translator between two different worlds. The study also found that organisational leadership is a significant determinant of the organisational experience of institutional complexity, and hence the response to it. This study makes a contribution to IL theory through identifying three institutional logics, and highlighting the “bottom up” influence of one of the logics. This work illustrates the dynamics of responding to multiple logics “on the ground”, and has implications for FT research and practice

Local Strategies for Economic Survival in Touristically Volatile Times: An Indonesian Case Study of Microvendors, Gendered Cultural Practices, and Resilience

This article utilizes a qualitative ethnographic approach to examine the economic survival strategies pursued by Indonesian souvenir artisans and handicraft microvendors in touristically turbulent times. Resilience-oriented approaches have offered promising frameworks for understanding regions\u27, destinations\u27, and communities\u27 capacities to adjust and adapt to challenges: this article complements these broader approaches by offering a fine-grained analysis of individual strategies for finding creative solutions to the economic challenges thrust upon them. My approach melds a constructivist approach accentuating local peoples\u27 creative responses with gender-aware and practice-oriented approaches. These findings draw from data collected over three decades of ethnographic research in the Toraja highlands of Sulawesi, Indonesia

Education, Employment and Training Policies and Programmes For Youth With Disabilities In Denmark, Germany, Spain and The United Kingdom

EducationEmploymentTrainingNo82.pdf: 1634 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Paper, Pottery and Prosperity: Handicrafts and Rural Development in Thailand

The focus of this thesis is on the role of handicraft production in rural development in Northern Thailand, exploring how handicrafts evolve over time in the context of a modernising economy. This links with on-going debates on community-based development theory, including those related to rural industrialisation, rural-urban relations and biases, indigenous knowledge, rural poverty and livelihoods. The thesis seeks to return to an issue which was a popular area of investigation in the 1970s, namely the role of small-scale industries in rural development. Rural spaces have always contained an element of non-farm activities, often classified as ‘handicraft production’. Two villages in Chiang Mai province in Northern Thailand have been selected for study in order to assess the roles of handicrafts in rural development. One selected case study village is Baan Ton Pao, which is engaged in saa (mulberry) paper making. The other selected village is Baan Muang Kung, where handicraft production is based on pottery making. Through an empirical study of these two villages, Baan Ton Pao and Baan Muang Kung, this thesis shows that handicrafts have significant potential for promoting rural industrialisation and supporting rural development, especially through the One Tambon One Product programme. Handicrafts are, therefore, contributing to rural poverty alleviation through employment and income generation, and through generating economic growth rooted in the countryside, separate from efforts directed at agriculture and farming. However, it is also important to understand how this very effort is also creating new inequalities in the countryside and, arguably, new populations of poor people. The study is important because it has been argued – as noted above – that handicrafts have significant potential for promoting rural industries and supporting rural development and rural livelihoods – and yet this has rarely been studied in any great detail. The conceptual frameworks are impressive; the empirical support remains thin. This thesis contributes in a significant way to debates about rural development and particularly handicrafts in Thailand and beyond