ABSTRACT
For thousands of years, humans have been innovating as a means to adapt to and monopolize our natural surroundings (Smithsonian), and while technology has been advancing rapidly we have also witnessed a surge in economic growth, globalization, and consumerism. Currently we are witnessing a doubling in computer processing speed and digital electronics every 18 months (Moore). With economic growth, the United States, in particular, slowly became a throwaway society (Life Magazine). Increased consumption demands excessive production of short-lived or disposable goods (Packard). The growth in convenience and cheap consumer goods has taken priority over mindsets of the past advocating for stewardship, resourcefulness, and thrift. These contemporary economic contexts of globalization allow for one to compare making as a production technique in the United States to other countries such as Peru. In the United States, we have seen a decrease in vocational skills to work in a trade, craft, or as a technician; we have limited our K-12 shop classes and home economics; and we tend to cut arts and crafts when budgets are tight (Hambek; Horwitz; Tucker). One could argue this trend is due to our consumer, throwaway culture—people purchase their goods and throw them out instead of making and repurposing, as in the past.
