Valuation, Organizing and Craft : Carpet Making in the South of Morocco

Recently, the role of craft in our contemporary societies has experienced renewed interest. While some considered it a primitive mode of organization and work, recent literature has highlighted its role in reconfiguring societies. Beyond its economic aspect, craft carries a deeper significance of guardianship, linked to historical nostalgia and re-enchantment. Socioeconomic relations and societal values are continuously renegotiated, evolving alongside technological and societal progress. This works focuses on carpet weaving within a rural community living in Siroua, a semi-arid mountain region in the South of Morocco. Through an empirical case study, we trace the whole process of carpet production and commercialization from sheep rearing to its sale in the market. We have adopted an iterative field approach, going back and forth regularly to maintain strong relationships with the targeted population and ensure the critical distance needed to interpret and analyze our data. Our research specifically directs attention towards the natural circumstances associated with climate change, acting as a catalyst for transformation, turning carpet weaving from a simple domestic activity into a revenue-generating business. As a research question, we ask how the transformations affecting the carpet craft generate new configurations that challenge dominant societal structures while constituting a new organization. Weaving, well beyond a simple «primitive» traditional activity, represents an evolutionary mechanism of societal reconfiguration. Significant changes have been implemented to address climate change by introducing innovative techniques, namely by fostering entrepreneurship. These dynamics result in a shift from a domestic practice to a structured income-generating activity, paralleling the transition from individual efforts to collaborative ventures in cooperatives and, potentially, factories. As weaving practices evolve, women’s roles within the community are also being redefined. The new production methods and work organization (cooperatives) emerge as forms of social mobilization and women’s empowerment, enabling them to contribute to addressing broader community challenges.