Exploring migrant and refugee craftswomanship in Europe

During the 2021-2022 academic year, Eva, Isabella, Martina, Qin, and Sreya, Sciences Po Graduate Students, are studying migrant and refugee women's economic inclusion through craftwork with the nonprofit Nest in the framework of the Women Forward International programme.

What are the project’s goals?

Isabella: Our project aims to provide an overview of how the European women’s craftwork landscape intersects with migrant and refugee communities. Through our on-the-ground research, we aim to provide a deeper understanding of female migrant artisan’s lived experiences.

How has it been going since october?

Martina: This project represents an extremely challenging but rewarding opportunity! We are developing our project management skills by developing a strategy aimed at reconciling the different objectives of both Nest and Women Forward International through the creation of common deliverables. Moreover, we developed our time management skills both as a group and individually: we defined a strict schedule for carrying out the project and we divided the workload among the team members. Each of us has had to balance their own curricular assignments with the project workload. We have understood that effective communication among the team members and the partners is the key to successfully deliver the desired objectives.

How would you define “craftswomanship”? What does the literature say about it?

Eva: We adopt Nest‘s definition: craftswomen are artisan handworkers, meaning that the women work predominantly with their hands, as opposed to relying exclusively on the use of machines. As artisans, they are skilled workers whose products embody cultural attributes. While it might seem difficult to consider craftswomenship as one homogeneous economic sector, considering the plethora of techniques, materials and cultural heritage that is involved in women's work, literature proposes specific criteria delineating the sector. Namely: (1) the use of advanced expertise to transform material; (2) the manufacture of unique objects and limited-edition objects that have an artistic quality; (3) and the artisan’s mastery of a craft. In recent years, the perception of artistic crafts has undergone changes. While it has been primarily associated with tradition in the past, and sometimes considered as schools of expertise, crafts are increasingly viewed as very innovative. The new positive image has yet to be consolidated by the craftswomen themselves, especially as this perception is part of the new positive image of manual work.

How is the question of migrant and refugee women’s economic inclusion through craftwork framed at the European level?

Qin: During our statistical review, we find that refugee women were underrepresented in the refugee group: women account for less than 40% of the total refugee population. This could result from the difficulty for the women to escape their original countries and become refugees. Therefore, it is important to empower women refugees. At the European level, non-EU citizens are also over-represented in ‘essential services’ and underrepresented in areas such as business and administration activities. Developing craftswomanship at the EU level could help women participate in activities with more added value. We also expect that women working in the craftswomanship organisations could one day create their own crafts brand and become business leaders.

What is next?

Sreya: During the research we realised that many factors can alter the situation on the field which is never properly documented online. Doing desk research can give us preliminary information about the organisations and the numbers. But seeing firsthand the implications of their policies, talent management, training and workshops is crucial to have a sound research. It will make us aware of their limitations, struggles and cross-verify with their digital footprint. This fall, we did a thorough country-based desk research on over 12 countries in Europe to study their stances on the inclusion of migrant and refugee women in the labour market, their documentation process and their skills training, talent management etc. We found a good number of organisations and projects led by NGOs, government, and international organisations throughout the continent. For logistical reasons and time constraints, we can travel to a maximum of 3 countries to make our research cohesive: we chose France, Italy and Greece. These countries topped our research with the biggest number of proper organisations and associations helping  migrant women; also having a better national base than a local one. Additionally, to be diverse in the case of location, artisan mapping, plethora of crafts skills, talent management, origin of migrants and other pertinent reasons we realised that Italy, France and Greece are in many ways different (the kind of migrants, their background, language expertise) and also similar under some umbrella topics. Therefore, our research will come together when we can implement our desk work and theoretical understanding with first hand experience and observing practical implementation in the field.

More

• The students involved: Isabella Brandes is a student in a Dual Master’s degree in Public Policy at the Sciences Po School of Public Affairs and in Public Administration at Columbia University; Eva Korn is a student in International Development at the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA); Qin Miao is a student in International Management and Sustainability at the Sciences Po School of Management and Innovation; Sreya Nath is a student in International Development at the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA); Martina Sole is a student in a Dual Master’s degree in International Affairs at the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) and the London School of Economics.
• The research-action project
• Women Forward International’s Website