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
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Page xx
... relationship to low skills . Last , but not least , embroiderers are people who are important both for what they do and for the outlooks they bring to their society and their times . The way in which embroiderers make a living is ...
... relationship to low skills . Last , but not least , embroiderers are people who are important both for what they do and for the outlooks they bring to their society and their times . The way in which embroiderers make a living is ...
Page xxiii
... relationships , while keeping the broader picture of the entire industry in sight . One approach — though not the only one I used — was to investi- gate the knowledge and skills of very accomplished embroiderers , one of whom agreed to ...
... relationships , while keeping the broader picture of the entire industry in sight . One approach — though not the only one I used — was to investi- gate the knowledge and skills of very accomplished embroiderers , one of whom agreed to ...
Page xxiv
... relationships and experiences of embroiderers , I found these reactions enlightening , though frustrating . Poor artisans were understandably unwilling to spend any of their time with a stranger unless there were ( although often even ...
... relationships and experiences of embroiderers , I found these reactions enlightening , though frustrating . Poor artisans were understandably unwilling to spend any of their time with a stranger unless there were ( although often even ...
Page xxv
... relationships as a definitive or unimpeachable account of " Lucknow chikan . " Many of my teacher's practices of naming and making stitches are shared by other embroider- ers , but not by all . It may have been desirable to replicate ...
... relationships as a definitive or unimpeachable account of " Lucknow chikan . " Many of my teacher's practices of naming and making stitches are shared by other embroider- ers , but not by all . It may have been desirable to replicate ...
Page xxvi
... relationships , and work of female embroiderers . The third chapter addresses the question of why women's work is so little valued and goes into detail on the ele- ments of women's subordination . In the fourth chapter , I describe ...
... relationships , and work of female embroiderers . The third chapter addresses the question of why women's work is so little valued and goes into detail on the ele- ments of women's subordination . In the fourth chapter , I describe ...
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.