Many Threads of a Story Textiles and Weavers in South India by Vijaya Ramaswamy, 2nd edition; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006;
SEEMANTHINI NIRANJANA The handloom industry in India has been a source for comment by traditionalists, modernists and all those in-between. Its survival and reinvention has baffled many, while its continuing problems pose big challenges for those within the industry and for the policymakers. All this notwithstanding, the production of cloth by handlooms continues to provide new ways of thinking about economic activity and social change, and the links between textile production and trade, weavers, state and society. Typically, in evaluating a traditional industry like handlooms, economic historians have examined the scale and shifts in weaving and trade across centuries. Alternatively, the sociological analysis of handlooms focuses on the way production is organised and the social relations and the networks that support both weaving activity and trade.
