Authors

Discussion

This study is a depiction of how Russian amber craftsmen - divers, diggers and juveliers’  make sense of their work. It contributes to the economic anthropological studies of artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) by showing how ‘economic’ and ‘social’ are intertwined in craftsmen’s constructions of their work through the diverse nature of crafting.

The research is supported by interviews of amber craftsmen in the Kaliningrad region carrying on their amber crafting practices and ethnography obtained during a trip to the Kaliningrad.

In many ways, it has become increasingly clear that motivations for crafting are extremely diverse. In concordance with previous studies, we found that Russian amber craftsmen make sense of their work in temporality and connection to nature. However, many people recognize amber crafting as work that might give them agency and power: defining time regimes of work, constructing gender roles, and showing their ‘national’ right to natural resources.

Against the criminalization of ASM in Russia that has prevailed over the last decade, we understand the motivation for amber crafting to be a form of exercising power While this research raises the issues of the complex power dynamics involved in amber crafting in Russia, it also calls for further research into the governance of mining in Russia and the potential improvement of its regulation.