Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

This research paper is an outcome of personal experiences and primary data collected during participatory co-creation with craft practitioners. The study explores the cause of social justice through fashion based on an enquiry into local practices, especially by women, who use traditional hand-skills to resist capitalism and patriarchal grids. The interview of a few designers and organizations practicing 'co-creation' to achieve social justice form a foundation for this research.

In the past decade, India’s metropolitan areas have seen a huge surge in job opportunities in the craft and design sector, yet women remain largely unrecognized and undervalued. This research focuses on urban women, largely in the 30-70 age group, who are stuck in the conventional setup of their nuclear or joint families. A good number of these women were found to be seasoned in craft skills like knitting, crocheting, darning, mending, embroidery, etc. They make products for family members but fail to make substantial earnings or get any recognition for their skill. Despite a huge market for people who practice such skills, there is no platform for them to connect with individuals, designers, or retail companies.

Untapped, a skill-sourcing app model, can connect these home-based makers to designers and buyers. Through the app, makers can build a profile highlighting their skills and subsequently connect with prospective customers. The app provides better recognition to local communities and their unrecognized skills, as well as help sustain their craft and associated skill. The aim of this paper is to define the needs of these women, explore the nuances of their craft, and propose how the intervention of technology through an app model can help them procure more clients and generate sufficient revenue in return. Through research methodologies such as personal interviews, as well as a review of existing apps, the paper seeks to build the context further by recording and analyzing varied narratives of home-based makers.

'Sutti Kapda' (cotton fabric) symbolized a simple and modest way of life, epitome of civil non-corporation during the freedom struggle in colonial India is now struggling with its new identity in 21st century. The question arises what it truly represents in modern times. Although cotton is the world’s oldest commercial crop and one of the most important fiber crops in the global textile industry, it fails to focus on the entire supply chain to ensure safe working environment and a living income for the farmers. Less than 10% of the money paid for clothes ends up in the hands of the makers. Farmers are often left invisible, neglected and poor at the end of a long and complex supply chain.

The fiber-to-fabric production chain, from cotton processing through apparel, employs more than 12 million workers in India and provides 16% of export earnings. Many problems that are identified in cotton cultivation have led to diminishing yields and distress in cotton producing states in India; along with drought, increasing input costs and debt caused by high interest rates for loans from non-formal credit sources drove several framers to commit suicide in many regions. Another major issue is the toxicity induced in the local environment due to extensive dependency on pesticides to sustain the crop production.

Cotton cultivation needs to be sustainable, providing livelihood security to millions of marginal and small farmers in India. Numerous small initiatives to sustain; have begun at Niche level, this research attempts to document organizations (Khamir- supporting indigenous cotton cultivation) and brands (like Cotton Rack, Upasana) that are coming together to reposition cotton to uplift and secure the future. It reviews and analyses the practices of cultivation from past and present to build a better future resulting in saving the marginalized farmer working in the complex fashion system to support the demand of urban consumer.

Moti Bharat is a craft being practised by the various communities, residing in the western part of India, i.e. Kutch, Gujarat. Crafting among them is seen as more than producing personal and household articles; it is a celebration of skill and tradition passed down through generations.

The paper aims to analyse the dowry tradition practiced for generations which has now been discontinued within the Rabari community. Products created using craft skills form a major part of the dowry tradition which was a reflection of the skills and social status of the woman and the community. The craft which was once the pride of the community, drastically affected the life of the community, which led to the abolishment of the tradition and the decline in moti bharat craft in the Rabari community.

Both Primary and secondary data are used for this research. The tools used for the data collection included field observation, immersion, interviews, etc. Secondary research also included data available with government, non-government bodies, literature survey of libraries and studies that have been undertaken in the area and related subjects.

The paper presents the moti bharat embroidery tradition and adversities faced by the Rabari women and the community which led to the abolishment of the dowry tradition by the community. The present status of the Moti bharat craft, factors which led to the abolishment of dowry in reference to the Rabari community is also reflected in the study.

Handcrafting in India was indigenous and intuitive. In due course, it became an effective tool for political and much later social justice. Mahatma Gandhi instilled the doctrines of Swadeshi, as part of his visionary path towards non-violence. This inspired the use of native products and empowered the rural masses. An immediate response to this was an enormous resistance towards foreign produces, fuelling the historic ‘Quit India Movement’, an incredible milestone in India’s struggle for freedom. A propel was witnessed post-independence in the Indian handloom and handicraft sectors, in the early 1950s. This, supported by the strategies of the new government, turned everyday objects (like the humble clothing) into agents of social change. Similarly, Khadi was not just an initiative to generate employment for the huge rural populace; it was a prelude to the gradual shift towards sustainable fashion, championed by fair trade and eco-friendly processes.

The research at hand uses ‘narrative enquiry’ both as a method and methodology. As the central idea of the paper follows “co-creation”, a participatory research approach becomes the natural course. Within the participatory model, the researcher conducted workshops with artisans and designers and exchanged dialogues with NGOs. It includes secondary data on ‘craftivism’ that stirs up debate around ‘social justice’ by deconstructing prevalent global discourses. These in India are inherently colonial, gendered and point towards the absence of social mobility for craft communities. The secondary data in the form of ‘case studies’ provides the much needed theoretical framework to study the contemporary practices in craft and how they could be applied in an India context. The study uses a multi-method approach comprising of in-depth interviews and ‘co-creation’ practices (with artisans and designers). The human stories of ground-breaking achievements by rural artisans provide an alternative insight in challenging the societal clichés while shaping the shifting ideas.