Peer-reviewed
Skill, Dependency, and Differentiation: Artisans and Agents in the Lucknow Embroidery Industry
Female embroiderers in the chikan garment industry of Lucknow are homeworkers whose employment opportunities and wages are adversely affected by the restrictions of purdah and widely held opinions of the lowliness of women's work. They are recruited by agents who extract a portion of the piece wage as their profit. Most agents are men. Some, though, are women with moderate to high skills in embroidery. The dependence of embroidery workers upon female agents calls into question whether gender can be a basis for silidarity and action
Article, 1997