#Quiltsforpulse: connected and shared socio-political activism through craftivism

ABSTRACT

Aligning crafts and activism, craftivism provides a useful context to study the processes of collective socio-political activism. Crafts allow us to reclaim the ability to care for others as a method of activism, which stands in contrast to the vitriolic expression that pervades contemporary online-offline political discourse. Building on connected learning, this qualitative study analyzes the #quiltsforpulse movement, a response to the 2016 mass shooting at a gay bar in Orlando that distributed over 1,700 handcrafted quilts to survivors, families, and first responders. We study the craftivist connections and shared practices of #quiltsforpulse and one implementation of the movement that produced material responses to violence. Findings broaden our understanding of connected learning by introducing how materials produced multifaceted connections and shared practices in the collective expression of care and compassion. We present implications for designing connected learning opportunities toward socio-political activism.

KEYWORDS:

• #quiltsforpulse
• craftivism
• connected learning
• socio-political activism

Acknowledgements

We thank the participants of the study without whom this study would not have been possible. We also thank the contributors of the #quiltsforpulse movement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #1420303.