Description
Book SynopsisWeaving Histories looks at the economic history of South Asia from a fresh perspective, through a detailed study of the handloom industry of South India between 1800 and 1960, drawing out its wider implications for the Indian economy. It employs an unusual array of sources, including paintings and textile samples as well as archival records, to excavate the links between cotton growing, cleaning, spinning and weaving before the nineteenth century. The rupture and re-configuration of these links produced a sea-change in the lives of ordinary weavers. Weaving Histories examines the configuration of forceslocal, regional, national and globalthat drove this transformation, and uncovers its effects on different groups of weavers.The handloom industry is used as a case study to throw light on the historical emergence of the ''informal sector'' in India, and to re-examine contemporary debates about industrialisation and economic development.
Trade ReviewIn Weaving Histories, Karuna Dietrich Wielenga mobilizes an impressive range of sources to show that for at least south India many of the truisms often repeated are, if not incorrect, then surely imprecise. To understand the important revisionist work of this book, the author provides a careful analysis not just of weaving but also of raw cotton cultivation and spinning. * Giorgio Riello, European University Institute, Labour History Review *
By providing the local, granular details of handloom production, Weaving Histories not only sets the stage for a nuanced understanding of a sophisticated industry within a complex socioeconomic environment but also offers greater targeted insights into its technical, social, and economic operations. * Alka Raman, Victoriaand Albert Museum, Technology and Culture, Volume 63, Number 1 *
Weaving History is an exceptional scholarly work that not only engages lively with these debates but indeed also offers answers and insightful analysis. To begin with the book combines different traditions to produce an excellent outcome. It bridges economic, social, cultural, and labor history while it rarely compromises on any of these fronts. The length and breadth of the sources employed in the book is similarly truly impressive ... Weaving History is thus an outstanding contribution to existing debates and would hopefully bring new life to some of the classical questions concerning the economic/social nexus. * Nikolay Kamenov, H-Soz-Kult *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction 1: The Geography of Weaving: South India in the Early Nineteenth Century 2: Statistics, Looms and People: The Changing Contours of the Handloom Industry 3: From Cotton to Cloth: The Linking Threads 4: Weaving: Changing Structures 5: Caste and Work 6: Solidarity and Action 7: The State and the Weaver Conclusion Appendix: Note on the Loom Tax Bibliography Index
