The Uneasy Deal: A case study of the soapstone carving industry

Abstract (English)

Soapstone carvings produced in the Gusii region of western Kenya are sold as arts and handmade crafts not only within Kenya, but also in East Africa and around the world. This presentation focuses on a wholesaler who comes from the West to purchase soapstone carvings, and indicates how he interacts with Gusii people who engaged in the soapstone carving industry. The majority of all processes, from quarrying to carving, occur here, making the industry a major source of livelihood for the Gusii people in the region.
The Kenyan government has set the empowerment of local small and medium-sized enterprises as a task in its long-term development plan "Vision 2030," and has focused on the soapstone carving industry. An anthropological study on this industry has revealed how Kenya's handicraft industry is connected to the global economy [Mahoney 2017]. While the role of Kenyan art traders as intermediaries is described there, this presentation focuses on a wholesaler who comes from the West to buy soapstone carving. He is self-employed and sells soapstone carvings wholesale in Europe. He has visited the production area every year for more than ten years and is known in the district for ordering soapstone carvings from approximately 30 Gusii people. For some of those who receive orders from him, these orders are their main opportunity to earn cash and are their lifeline. On the other hand, they are not trading with a passive attitude of just taking orders.
This presentation focuses on how wholesalers interact with the people involved in the industry in the production area based on cases obtained intermittently from 2021 to 2024. Specifically, this presentation presents how wholesalers scramble to get the job done. Through the interactions between people engaged in the handicraft industry and foreign wholesaler, this presentation highlights some aspects of the trade of goods.