Hooked on a Thread: The Craft of Institutional Persistence in the Context of Koniaków Lacemaking

Through an in-depth, qualitative study of Polish folk craft of Koniaków Lacemaking, we investigate its surprising, long-term, institutional persistence. While most places have historically developed rich, folk craft traditions, economic development and related societal changes have led to incremental vanishing of such practices. Yet, community of Koniaków remains faithful to its traditional craft that is still vividly practiced for almost 150 years. Our findings suggest that persistent institutions, such as Koniaków Lacemaking, require a collective of dedicated and caring actors that are personally invested in the institution and deeply committed to its persistence. Such collective is then capable to “flexibly control” the institution, which involves effectively protecting the essence of the institution while enabling for adaptive change. Based on our case analysis, we conceptualize the recurring relation between, what we call, “institutional caring” and “dynamic grounding” as an important precondition to long-term institutional persistence.