Public Policy of Crafts in México: A Misconception

Abstract

Although their potential in the generation of wealth and jobs, crafts have received considerably little attention from academicians. So, there are still different topics to answer. Among the most urgent topics are those policies related to development and preservation of the cultural signs and rational distribution of the public budget. It is too early to discuss the efficiency of the distribution of the budget, before that, it may be necessary to analyze the importance or relevance of the goals set by these policies. For this reason, the objective of this study is to explore the relevance and adequacy of current public policies for crafts in Mexico. In order to achieve this, a documentary study has been done, in this study, official data generated by the Mexican government in the artisanal sector such as the National Development Plan and the Rules of Operation of National Fund for the Promotion of Crafts was analyzed. The results suggest that the public policy directed to crafts in Mexico is mainly limited by two important factors: 1) a “romantic” vision of a craftsmanship that excludes those whose production involves some sort of industrialization and 2) a paternalistic view of the craftsman