The main concepts that I took away from the readings are essentially the same three goals that came from the revolutionary knitting circles. Their first goal was to promote community independence by learning new skills. While during that time period that is important, I think today building community is the main goal. Using the example of Stitching for Sisters, woman from all over who have never met each other came together to support a common cause because they care. It shows the power of women as a community. The second goal of the knitting circles is to break down social divisions. I think that as a community comes together and as people work as activists, it brings everyone together and brings awareness to social divisions and how we can solve them. Lastly, the goal is to change how activism is done. In The Guardian article, it compared craftivism to punk. The correlation is that craftivism and punk mean something different to everyone and both are a “social and political force.” I thought that it was an interesting take on activism because craftivism is more inclusive. It made the point that activism is emotionally draining and not everyone wants to march, create petitions, and shout. Craftivism allows for more activists to get involved. My favorite point from the article is when it said that craftivism is not soft, it is powerful to have self-control when you’re angry.
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