What is Special about Specialization?
Title
What is Special about Specialization?
Author
Underhill, Anne P.
Research Area
Social Institutions
Topic
Complex Organizations and Bureaucracies
Abstract
This essay argues that several key issues regarding craft specialization deserve to be further investigated. These include how specialization develops, variation in strategies to achieve intensification of production, causal factors for technological innovation versus technological conservatism, and how specialization changes in relation to the development of urbanism. Recent studies moving us forward in productive directions with respect to methodology examine the value of goods in specific social contexts, consider the impact of ritual life on craft production, and more thoroughly assess the sources of variation in finished products.