Manufacturing stoke: emergence, transformation and consolidation in the surfboard industry

Authors

Andrew T. Warren, University of WollongongFollow
Christopher R. Gibson, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

101533

Publication Details

Warren, A. & Gibson, C. (2015). Manufacturing stoke: emergence, transformation and consolidation in the surfboard industry. In J. R. Bryson, J. Clark & V. Vanchan (Eds.), Handbook of Manufacturing Industries in the World Economy (pp. 309-325). Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Abstract

This chapter traces the emergence, transformation and consolidation of the surfboard manufacturing industry. With historical antecedents in ancient Polynesian cultures, surfboard making has evolved from a small-scale do-it-yourself (DIY) activity into a formalized commercial industry. Since the late 1950s surfboards have been manufactured in industrial-style workshops located adjacent to popular surfing places. In these settings surfboard making combines a unique range of human skills: an eye for design, knowledge and application of hydrodynamics, manual crafting; and close relations between workers, tools, materials and local customers. Drawing from cultural economy theory, we focus on 33 workshops across three global hubs of surfboard production: Southern California, O'ahu, Hawai'i and east coast Australia. In these three regions surfboards represent functional products utterly necessary to pursue surfing.