Over the years, aspects of hand block printing, such as design, labour and authenticity, have changed for the worse, which has further impacted the socio-cultural identity of this craft and crafts(wo)men engaging in it.
Authors
Deepanshu Mohan, Associate Professor of Economics and Director, Centre for New Economics Studies (CNES), Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Sakshi Tokas, Centre for New Economics Studies, O. P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Vanshika Mittal, Centre for New Economics Studies, O. P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Shivani Agarwal, Centre for New Economics Studies, O. P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Jignesh Mistry, Centre for New Economics Studies, O. P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Tanushree Mohan, Deloitte Canada, Toronto.
Summary
Karl Polanyi’s theories on embeddedness and disembeddedness help unpack the transformation of exchange systems and emergence of markets in societies. This paper analyses a process of such transformation observed in the context of the hand block printing industry of Jaipur and its nearby areas.
Through an ethnographic study of the craft, we observe the extent to which hand block printing has undergone heavy commodification and commercialisation while disembedding from the society.
Over the years, aspects of hand block printing, such as design, labour and authenticity, have changed for the worse, which has further impacted the socio-cultural identity of this craft and crafts(wo)men engaging in it.
Some underlying forces behind this are the commodification of labour and the commercialisation of the craft. While expanding on these, the paper also provides policy recommendations on the aspects of recognising artists and standardising labels in the industry.
Published in: Asian Ethnicity
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