CRAFTSMANSHIP AND AFROENTREPRENEURSHIP BY WOMEN

OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AFFIRMATION FROM A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Craftsmanship has historically been part of women's daily lives. The craft art is usually passed down from generation to generation and unveils the identity of the people who make it: each region and culture produce crafts that imprint their essence in each piece. This study aims to profile black women entrepreneurs in handicraft, seeking to identify the reasons that led them to undertake, investigate their multiple roles and the conflicts arising from them, and point out the challenges faced by these women in their businesses. The methodology adopts the strategy of multiple case research, and evidence is collected through semi-structured interviews with black women creators and managers of micro and small handicraft businesses in the Federal District. The analysis is from a critical perspective based on the relationship between Work and Human Rights. According to IBGE, women constitute 64% of the 8.5 million artisans. Black women have played an important role in Brazilian society with the contributions their work has brought to the economy, although there is not enough recognition of their productions. In the early days of Colonial Brazil, these women had their workforce enslaved and used in various areas: from domestic work to agriculture, through commerce and industrial production. For these women, there has never been a distinction between public and private: they have always worked on both fronts. The double shift has never been new for black female workers. The transition from the colonial model to the neoliberal capitalist one led to the commercialization of craftsmanship, as well as its commodification: what was once manufactured for self-consumption, family use, or (in the case of enslaved people) for the landowners' consumption, became a product to be sold in the market. Entrepreneurship can take place in two ways: out of necessity or opportunity. Entrepreneurship out of necessity stems from dissatisfaction that may be related to factors of the work itself or external factors. Entrepreneurship out of necessity has historically been linked to the reality of black women, given that the intersection of gender and race (often still associated with socio-economic vulnerability) represented fewer formal job opportunities and lower wages. Entrepreneurship out of opportunity arises from observing a market need for a specific demand for services or products. In Brazil, according to the IBGE/2021 survey, about 52% of business owners self-identified as black, with the majority concentrated in the Northern and Northeastern States. Regarding gender, the same survey indicates that around 34% of business owners were women. Entrepreneurship aligns with the principles of the Federal Constitution of Brazil, concerning the understanding of human dignity, free enterprise, and equality in the right to undertake. Female entrepreneurship brings an emancipatory perspective, independence, and often social inclusion for craftswomen.