Small Town Capitalism in Western India

Artisans, Merchants, and the Making of the Informal Economy, 1870–1960

Douglas E. Haynes

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9780521193337
• eBook ISBN:
  9781139210423
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Indian & South Asian History
• Index: History

This book charts the history of artisan production and marketing in the Bombay Presidency from 1870 to 1960. While the textile mills of western India's biggest cities have been the subject of many rich studies, the role of artisan producers located in the region's small towns have been virtually ignored. Based upon extensive archival research as well as numerous interviews with participants in the handloom and powerloom industries, this book explores the role of weavers, merchants, consumers and laborers in the making of what the author calls 'small-town capitalism'. By focusing on the politics of negotiation and resistance in local workshops, the book challenges conventional narratives of industrial change. The book provides the first in-depth work on the origins of powerloom manufacture in South Asia. It affords unique insights into the social and economic experience of small-town artisans as well as the informal economy of late colonial and early post-independence India.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Small Town Capitalism in Western India
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Images
• Maps, Chart, and Tables
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 The Historical and Global Contexts of Artisan Production
• 2 Artisanal Towns
• 3 Consumers, Merchants, and Markets
• 4 The Organisation of Production
• 5 Small Town Capitalism and the Living Standards of Artisans
• 6 The Colonial State and the Handloom Weaver
• 7 The Paradox of the Long 1930s
• 8 Weaver-Capitalists and the Politics of the Workshop, 1940–1960
• Concluding Reflections: The Making of the Informal Economy
• APPENDIX I Costs Involved in Manufacturing Two Types of Saris, Ahmednagar
• APPENDIX II
• Bibliography
• Index
• Other titles in the series