Embroidering Lives: Women's Work and Skill in the Lucknow Embroidery IndustrySUNY Press, 1999 M01 1 - 239 pages Fusing aesthetic and economic analyses, Embroidering Lives investigates the lives and work of women in the chikan embroidery industry of Lucknow, India. Richly descriptive and accessibly written, the book explores many important issues in women's studies, anthropology, and urban development today--the impact of purdah (seclusion of women) upon women's work and occupational opportunities, the key role of sub-contractors in home-based industry, the need to understand a handicraft from its makers' point of view, and the role of development agencies and programs. |
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Page xx
... there have been no outside influences on chikan . In fact , I suggest later that the chikan industry in its essential form was a creation of colonialism . I stress the very South Asian nature of chikan because the XX INTRODUCTION.
... there have been no outside influences on chikan . In fact , I suggest later that the chikan industry in its essential form was a creation of colonialism . I stress the very South Asian nature of chikan because the XX INTRODUCTION.
Page xxi
... fact that embroiderers , while they are all women , are differentiated in terms of the work they do , the training and abilities they have , and the relations they have with one another . The second kind are technical and descriptive ...
... fact that embroiderers , while they are all women , are differentiated in terms of the work they do , the training and abilities they have , and the relations they have with one another . The second kind are technical and descriptive ...
Page xxii
... fact that some women can and do make very fine chikan . So why should the employment of women be so glibly associated with decline in the product ? The simple answer is that undervalued female labor suits the needs of a rapidly ...
... fact that some women can and do make very fine chikan . So why should the employment of women be so glibly associated with decline in the product ? The simple answer is that undervalued female labor suits the needs of a rapidly ...
Page xxiii
... fact that I doggedly stuck around for nearly a year , was suggested by skilled embroiderer ( and wit ) Ayub Khan , that is , that the person embroiderers remembered seeing was in fact me , and they had simply forgotten who it was ...
... fact that I doggedly stuck around for nearly a year , was suggested by skilled embroiderer ( and wit ) Ayub Khan , that is , that the person embroiderers remembered seeing was in fact me , and they had simply forgotten who it was ...
Page xxvi
... fact that my research uncovered only a small fraction of the world of chikan . It is curious , in contrast , that so many texts about chikan lay out their " facts " with unswerving confidence , and in definitive terms . I have found ...
... fact that my research uncovered only a small fraction of the world of chikan . It is curious , in contrast , that so many texts about chikan lay out their " facts " with unswerving confidence , and in definitive terms . I have found ...
Contents
Chikan in Historical Context | xxvi |
WHAT IS CHIKAN? | xxvi |
STITCHES AND WORK | xxvi |
ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF CHIKAN | xxvi |
The Division of Labor | 25 |
KNOWLEDGE AND THE DIVISION OF LABOR | 27 |
PRODUCTIVE SPECIALTIES | 28 |
MACHINE WORK | 53 |
KNOWLEDGE OF CHIKAN | 126 |
LEARNING CHIKAN | 130 |
SHAUQ AND PARESHANI | 132 |
PROCESSES OF LEARNING | 136 |
PLANNING AND EXECUTION | 149 |
CONCESSIONS IN SKILL | 154 |
Development Schemes and State Patronage | 157 |
GOVERNMENT PROMOTION AND PATRONAGE | 161 |
CONCLUSION | 57 |
Embroiderers in Social Perspective | 59 |
PROBLEMS WITH STATISTICS | 61 |
EMBROIDERY AND POVERTY | 64 |
LEISURE | 67 |
RELIGION | 68 |
CASTE | 72 |
PURDAH | 74 |
EMBROIDERY AND THE LIFE CYCLE | 81 |
Work and Wages | 87 |
WORK HABITS | 96 |
AGENTS AND EMBROIDERERS | 101 |
SUMMARY | 118 |
IS CHIKAN EMBROIDERY FREETIME WORK? | 119 |
Skill and Knowledge in Fine Chikan Embroidery | 123 |
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Common terms and phrases
activities aesthetic AIHB Akhtar Jahan Aminabad areas artisans Awadh Ayub Khan bakhya blockmaker blocks burqa chikan embroidery chikan industry chikan production Chowk cloth commercial completely craft cultural Daliganj daughter Delhi derers dhobi embroidered embroiderer's example exhibition fact female agents female embroiderers finished garments gender girls handicrafts hatkatti highly skilled embroiderers Hindu Hjortshoj household jali kacca kām kangan Khaddra Khan kind kurtas labor learning living machine mahajans male agents manufacturer ment mota motifs murri Muslim national award needle Nur Jahan organization pareshani patronage patti pencni phanda phul piece Press printer production centers production process purdah reference relatives rupees rural Saliha salwar-qamiz sari sector SEWA Lucknow sewing shauq Shias shopkeepers simply social South Asia specifically stage stitches subcontracting teacher tepci thread tion training schemes Tyabji UPEC urban Uttar Pradesh village wages washermen washing woman workers zardozi
Popular passages
Page xxvi - A little later, a very attractive embroidered cap of the same type was created for the winter. The five panels were covered in thin muslin upon which gold and silver crescents and designs were stitched in different colours. In winter one saw no other covering on the heads of men of fashion. Later, when chikan [embroidery on muslin] became popular, it was used for this purpose.
Page xxv - Oudh attracted to their capital many of the famous craftsmen of India, hence Lucknow, to this day, has a larger range of artistic workers than are to be found in almost any other town of India. Lucknow chikan work is perhaps the most remarkable of these crafts as it is the most artistic and most delicate form of what may be called the purely indigenous needlework of India.