Editing Craft (section)

{{Short description|Skill performed manually}}
{{other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2017}}
[[File:Swanson Shoe Repair 18.jpg|thumb|[[Shoes]] are repaired by a skilled [[shoemaker]]; here he evaluates a pair of shoes with a [[customer]] watching.]]
[[File:NSRW Japanese potter at his wheel.jpg|thumb|upright|Japanese potter at his wheel (1914)]]
[[File:Traditional_Bagh_hand_block_print_master_craftsman-artisan-artist_Mohammed_Bilal_Khatri,_Madhya_Pradesh,_India.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Bagh Print|Bagh print traditional hand block print craft]] in [[India]]]]

A '''craft''' or '''trade''' is a [[pastime]] or an [[occupation (human activity)|occupation]] that requires particular skills and knowledge of [[Skilled worker|skilled work]]. In a historical sense, particularly the [[Middle Ages]] and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale production of [[Good (economics)|goods]], or their [[Maintenance, repair, and operations|maintenance]], for example by [[tinker]]s. The traditional term ''craftsman'' is nowadays often replaced by ''[[artisan]]'' and by ''[[craftsperson]]''.

Historically, the more specialized crafts with high-value products tended to concentrate in [[urban centers]] and their practitioners formed [[guild]]s. The skill required by their professions and the need to be permanently involved in the [[Trade|exchange of goods]] often demanded a higher level of [[education]], and craftspeople were usually in a more privileged position than the [[peasantry]] in [[Complex society|societal hierarchy]]. The households of artisans were not as self-sufficient as those of people engaged in agricultural work, and therefore had to rely on the exchange of goods. Some crafts, especially in areas such as [[pottery]], [[woodworking]], and various stages of textile production, could be practiced on a part-time basis by those also working in agriculture, and often formed part of village life.

When an [[apprentice]] finished their apprenticeship, they became a [[journeyman]] searching for a place to set up their own shop and make a living. After setting up their own shop, they could then call themselves a [[Master craftsman|master of their craft]].

This stepwise approach to mastery of a craft, which includes the attainment of some education and skill, has survived in some countries to the present day. But crafts have undergone deep structural changes since and during the era of the [[Industrial Revolution]]. The [[mass production]] of goods by large-scale [[Industry (manufacturing)|industry]] has limited crafts to market segments in which industry's modes of functioning or its mass-produced goods do not satisfy the preferences of potential buyers. As an outcome of these changes, craftspeople today increasingly make use of semi-finished components or materials and adapt these to their customers' requirements or demands. Thus, they participate in a certain [[division of labour]] between industry and craft.