This reflective essay explores the role art can play in subsistence marketplaces, focusing particularly on its role in consumer‐entrepreneurship. Using informal field engagement in Mexico, Tanzania, and Native American tribes, in dialogue with the literature, it poses three questions as the basis for a research agenda: How can consumer‐entrepreneurs preserve art and heritage to sustain socioeconomic value? What transformative role does art play in subsistence marketplaces for the consumers and entrepreneurs involved? How can indigenous consumers and entrepreneurs protect their cultural identity and sovereignty through art? Directions for future research include the need to better understand the role of assemblages and intermediaries for artisan consumer‐entrepreneurs, an issue with evident policy implications. As indigenous and near‐indigenous societies seek identity, meaning, and cohesion in a turbulent world, art can preserve, transform, and assert.

中文翻译：

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艺术为何重要：生存市场中的艺术消费者企业家精神

这篇反思性文章探讨了艺术在生存市场中所扮演的角色，尤其着重于艺术在消费者创业中的角色。通过与墨西哥，坦桑尼亚和美洲原住民部落进行非正式的现场交流，并与文献进行对话，它提出了三个问题，作为研究议程的基础：消费者企业家如何保存艺术品和传统以维持社会经济价值？艺术在生存市场中为所涉及的消费者和企业家发挥什么变革性作用？土著消费者和企业家如何通过艺术保护其文化身份和主权？未来研究的方向包括需要更好地了解装配工和中介人对工匠消费者企业家的作用，这一问题具有明显的政策含义。