The Handloom Industry of Begampur in Transition: Technology, Disjuncture, and Development [Hardcover]

The Handloom Industry of Begampur in Transition: Technology, Disjuncture and Developmentprovides an ethnographic description of the handloom industry of the Begampur region, Hooghly district, West Bengal, India. While explaining the process of transformation within the industry, Abhradip Banerjee explores the uneasy relationship between technology, disjuncture, and development that has impacted the lives of this particular group of artisans for more than two decades. The novelty of this book lies in Banerjees approach, which allowed him to perceive and analyze the process of transition within the handloom weaving tradition of Begampur region from a more inclusive perspective, miles away from the pitfall of gross technological determinism. The sociotechnical approach allowed him to gauge, analyze, and incorporate several important but neglected dimensions of this transformation, which were otherwise missing in many historiographic or empirical accounts regarding the process of industrialization, deindustrialization, and class formation in India.Abhradip Banerjeeis assistant professor of anthropology at Government General Degree College, Singur.

This volume critically depicts how the Begumpuri artisans negotiate with changing socio-cultural dimensions, technological innovations, marketing and market forces. The volume will add a new body of knowledge in anthropology and would be engaging to those who are interested in the study of craft, craftsmanship, and their economy and culture. Subha Ray, University of Calcutta

Through this book Abhradip Banerjee has done a great job in tracing the history and cultural landscape of the handloom industry in Begampur, Hooghly while also dealing with the complex procedures in simplistic details, highlighting the growth of the weaving beyond being a community specific enterprise. By shedding light upon the unfair competition of handlooms with powerlooms, factors responsible for the emergence of cooperl2