Embroidering Lives

Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber is Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Washington State University.

"This is a sound anthropological study exploring a well-regarded industry from a new vantage point: the women involved in embroidering, teaching embroidery, and arranging for work for the embroiderers. The book provides detailed information on the art/skill itself, and rich descriptions of all stages of the process (including laundering the cloth, stamping the cloth, etc.) Great innovative methodology is used and this enables deeper, comprehensive understanding of a range of issues. The author relates themes she discovered to larger issues of gender and work." — Anita M. Weiss, University of Oregon"From the standpoint of a general reader, the chapters on gender make a major contribution to our understanding of several gender issues. The author explores the relationship between female seclusion and the practice of embroidery, examines how 'craft' activity is integrated into the larger social life of women, and analyzes the internal differentiation of women within the industry. The book is an important addition to feminist literature on work, but is more sophisticated and nuanced than comparable scholarship on South Asia. Its discussion of the ways that female agents are themselves involved in the 'exploitation' of, and control over, female labor is novel and important. Wilkinson-Weber's argument against the standard position heard in the Lucknow area that embroidery is a 'part-time' activity done by women in their 'free time' is a compelling one that has significant implications for the study of women's work in India and elsewhere in the world." — Douglas E. Haynes, Dartmouth College

• List of Maps List of Figures List of Tables A Note on Translation Acknowledgments Introduction MethodologyApprenticeship and learning (about) chikanSummary of chapters Chapter 1 Chikan in Historical Context The field settingWhat is chikan?Stitches and "work"Origins and history of chikan Chapter 2 The Division of Labor The production processKnowledge and the division of laborProductive specialtiesMachine workConclusion Chapter 3 Embroiderers in Social Perspective Theorizing women's workProblems with statisticsEmbroidery and povertyLeisureReligionCastePurdahEmbroidery and the life cycle Chapter 4 Work and. Wages Embroidery wagesWork habitsAgents and embroiderersSummaryIs chikan embroidery "free-time" work? Chapter 5 Skill and Knowledge in Fine Chikan Embroidery Distinguishing the work of a skilled embroidererKnowledge of chikanLearning chikanShauq and pareshaniProcesses of learningThe embroiderer's "design": Planning and executionWorking for the market: Concessions in skill Chapter 6 Development Schemes and State Patronage Government handicraft policyGovernment promotion and patronageAward schemesTraining schemesExhibitionsGovernment jobs for skilled embroiderersSEWA LucknowEmbroiderers, skilled embroiderers, the government, and SEWA LucknowConclusion Conclusion Appendix Notes Glossary Bibliography Index