Artisans and Industrialization: Indian Weaving in the Twentieth Century

It is well known that after the mid-nineteenth century, trade between Europe and Asia caused a 'deindustrialization' in the latter. This book argues, more specifically, that the effects of English goods on Indian industry were more complex than just loss of employment. In textiles, Indian handwoven cloth only partially competed with imported powerloom cloth, which therefore had a selective impact. On the other hand imported cloth and yarn, by integrating product markets and creating a labour market for those weavers who continued, speeded up capital accumulation in weaving. Centrally, this volume attempts two tasks: first, it ties together various kinds of changes that craftsmen experienced, the significance of which would otherwise escape notice. These include diversifications, increased labour hiring, weavers' participation in trade, the adoption of labour-saving appliances, the urbanization of weaving and, in consequence of all these, increased inequalities. Second, it draws the past closer to the present. Sections of handloom weaving in the late-twentieth century have been competitive and responsive to the market. Weaving has also been a source of capital and enterprise in many of India's textile towns. A vision of artisans as historically adaptive is more consistent with this dynamism than one suggesting passive decay.