Handarbetets sociala rum - om emotionshantering och kollektiv identitet i handarbetsrörelsen

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate emotions and collective identity in the handicraft movement. Which are the collective identities of craft movement, and is it possible to speak of an over all collective identity among the handicraft people? I will also examine the emotion work both on individual and group level. Eight qualitative interviews were conducted to achieve the aim of this thesis. Research has previously drawn attention to handicraft from a gender and a historical perspective but never from an emotional one. The theoretical framework derives from an emotion sociological perspective where Collins interaction rituals, emotional energy and Hochschild’s emotion management is the main theses. Collective identity are analysed with theories from Melucci´s and Barbalet’s macro sociological emotional approach. The result shows that emotions have a big part in creating collective identity. The collective identity is based on ideological approaches and is created by interaction rituals. These interaction rituals elaborates an opportunity to get emotional energy, which in turn inspires the respondents’ to express their identity trough handicraft.