The Sociality of Enskilment

ABSTRACT

This article uses a reflection on the quality of the time of enskilment as a way of addressing the relationship between sociality and enskilment. I look at key moments from my field research and learning experience in the workshop of a Taiwanese craftsman. The analysis of these moments reveals the complex, multimodal nature of the interactions between mentor and learner. I use the concept of enchronic time (Enfield) to trace these interactions as they unfold in the situated time of learning. In such contexts, I argue that there is no qualitative shift between sociality and enskilment, and we should thus conceptualise social interactions as being an integral part of the resulting technical skills, dispositions, and work ethics of the learner.

KEYWORDS:

• Enskilment
• time
• sociality
• learning
• craft

Acknowledgements

A version of this article was presented at the conference Anthropology of Hands, Kent University, in 2016; I am grateful to participants for their insightful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. I use his real name in this article. Not only is Mr Chan a public figure, but this also serves as recognition for his willingness to teach me his craft, and extensive help during my fieldwork. Another name that appears in the text, Zhao Jianghua, is also a real name, used for the same reasons.

2. I am grateful to Jacqui Ennis Cole for her comments on a conference paper version of this article and her suggestion to think about issues of trust and ego.

Additional information

Funding

This article is based on data collected during two periods of fieldwork in Taiwan funded by two British Academy Small Grants [SG111389,SG54098]. Fieldwork was carried out in 2010 and 2011. The material was further developed as part of a Visiting Researcher grant (Norwegian Research Council) [grant number 220083/F11] based at the Cultural History Museum, University of Oslo, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Cultural History Museum, University of Oslo.