Knitting Activism, Knitting Gender, Knitting Race

Abstract

Graffiti knitting, the practice of knitting objects and installing them without permission in public, is part of a larger craftivist turn in contemporary activism. It builds on a feminist history of activist knitting and resonates today because of its synthesis of the material and the affective, and through these means crafting a more participatory politics. This approach has facilitated, however, blindness to the racial politics of a largely White feminist appropriation of graffiti. This works against craftivism’s political potential and mirrors larger concerns about participatory politics. As a scholar-activist, I critique graffiti knitting to point toward ways for it to evolve and become a more intersectional activist practice.