See what you think by reading this eloquently written article on Dezeen and be sure to scan through some of the more academic replies in the comments below it. The word "disbelief" is aptly used in this sister post also on Dezeen.
On the other hand though... I recently read this in The Journal of Modern Craft volume 6, Issue 1, March 2013, pp87-94, Herwin Schaefer in his essay The Metamorphosis of the Craftsman, says;
"...we have men within industry who, much more than our makers of bric-a-brac, are the true descendents of the old craftsmen; they are the model-makers, die-makers, tool-makers, the many technicians in electronic and precision industries, and many hand workers in the less mechanized industries, such as the ceramic, furniture and building industries. These men contribute more to our visual environment by their skill and knowledge and by their sensitivity to form, than all the many so-called craftsmen..........They are not concerned with being original or creative, but merely with doing a good job, and that is the mark of the real craftsman. How much more real is their task, how much more alive, how much more needed than the precoccupation with the hand made one-of-a-kind luxury item.......We might well either abolish the term craftsman altogether as an obsolete concept, or transfer the term to people who under new circumstances, and with new methods are doing the very job the hand craftsman once did."
Comments welcome.
Petition against re-classification: https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/49537
