Framework for the Analysis of the Metabolic Processes of the Craft Activity

Abstract

Craft activity represents one of the clearest manifestations of the relationship established by human societies with their natural environment. However, there are limited proposals for analyzing the energy and material exchange processes that support this relationship, whose imbalance puts not only the continuity of the activity at risk but also the conservation of nature itself. The objective of this work is to propose an analytical framework for the study of the craft activity, which allows, from the environmental complexity, to estimate its metabolic process. For this, we carried out a critical analysis of the bibliographical collection, exploring different theoretical and empirical contributions of complexity, environmental complexity, social metabolism, metabolic process, and the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM). Subsequently, applying the method of analysis and synthesis, attention was focused on the importance and scope of those elements necessary for creating an empirical analysis framework. According to the results, the integration of different theoretical-methodological contributions makes it possible to outline a framework for the analysis of the metabolic process of the craft activity, which provides elements to understand its development, challenges, and current situations.