A Revolutionary Knitting Circle is an

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

group that uses

craftivism Craftivism is a form of activism, typically incorporating elements of anti-capitalism, environmentalism, solidarity, or third-wave feminism, that is centered on practices of craft - or what has traditionally be referred to as "domestic arts". Cra ...

(specifically

knitting Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat o ...

and other

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not t ...

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

s) in its efforts to bring about

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or socio ...

. The first Revolutionary Knitting Circle group was founded in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Canada, by Grant Neufeld in 2000. Since then, groups have formed across Canada, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, and various parts of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

Purpose

The groups claim three main goals:

Promoting community independence

They hold that communities and

nations A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

are currently subject to the

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

rule and that a goal of the Revolutionary Knitting Circles is to return them to

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

from that rule. While not advocating an end to

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exch ...

(be it local or international), the groups are working to build the capacity for all necessary

subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...

production at the community level. The theory being that, with the ability to take care of all essential needs, communities will be in a position to say no to trade deals they do not want.

Breaking down social divisions

The Revolutionary Knitting Circles oppose various social divisions, including

age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming olde ...

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures us ...

, race and

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

. The groups actively seek to include a diverse range of people from across those divisions in cooperative efforts. This goal is also served by having the groups often publicly represented by youthful males (such as the founder). Given the common view of knitting as work associated with middle- and lower-class women – typically older women – the groups hope that this representation will help to counter stereotypes.

Changing how activism is done

The groups hope to increase participation in activism by offering a different approach from the often intense, and sometimes hostile, modes of activism most commonly associated with social justice movements.

History of actions

The first major action initiated by the Revolutionary Knitting Circle was the ''Global Knit-In'' held during the 2002 G8 Summit. Groups in a number of cities and towns hosted

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

rallies featuring knitting outside of major corporate sites, especially bank office towers. Notable among these was the mass rally held in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada, where protesters set up a 'social safety net' made of knitted squares. In 2003 the group produced a

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

for white knitted arm-bands with a peace symbol. Members of the Knitting Circles and other interested knitters produced numerous arm-bands from the pattern which were worn in the mass peace marches and rallies held that year. In 2004 the group produced a pattern for a banner displaying the words "Peace Knits". The pattern called for individual 6 inch squares to be stitched together – allowing for many knitters to contribute to a single banner.

References