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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 66
Page 3
... Labor 25 The production process 25 Knowledge and the division of labor 27 Productive specialties 28 Machine work 53 Conclusion 57 Chapter 3 Embroiderers in Social Perspective 59 Theorizing women's work Problems with statistics ...
... Labor 25 The production process 25 Knowledge and the division of labor 27 Productive specialties 28 Machine work 53 Conclusion 57 Chapter 3 Embroiderers in Social Perspective 59 Theorizing women's work Problems with statistics ...
Page xix
... labor predominates , piece wages are paid , and there are no factories . Embroidered garments are made in stages , start- ing with fabric cutting and tailoring , followed by block printing and embroidering , and finally , laundering ...
... labor predominates , piece wages are paid , and there are no factories . Embroidered garments are made in stages , start- ing with fabric cutting and tailoring , followed by block printing and embroidering , and finally , laundering ...
Page xx
... labor are becoming the norm . In 1989-90 , chikan clothes ranged in price from as little as ten rupees for a child's shirt to several hundreds of rupees for a finely made sarl ( women's gar- ment of wrapped cloth ) . Women make the ...
... labor are becoming the norm . In 1989-90 , chikan clothes ranged in price from as little as ten rupees for a child's shirt to several hundreds of rupees for a finely made sarl ( women's gar- ment of wrapped cloth ) . Women make the ...
Page xxi
... labor - force restructuring , or a strategy of global capitalism , which ideology tends to obscure . Women have always been a cheap source of embroidery labor , but only recently have they come to dominate all skill levels in the craft ...
... labor - force restructuring , or a strategy of global capitalism , which ideology tends to obscure . Women have always been a cheap source of embroidery labor , but only recently have they come to dominate all skill levels in the craft ...
Page xxii
... labor suits the needs of a rapidly developing manufacturing industry . My second concern is to describe productive relations among women themselves . Confronting the evidence of conflicting economic interests and social differentiation ...
... labor suits the needs of a rapidly developing manufacturing industry . My second concern is to describe productive relations among women themselves . Confronting the evidence of conflicting economic interests and social differentiation ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
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.