Exploring the Lives of Manipur’s Women Weavers

This article explores the women weavers of Manipur by using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. In mainstream India, males play the major role in weaving while women are involved in pre-weaving activity. In contrast to this, in the north-eastern states of India, especially Manipur, the weaving occupation is dominated by women, who often perform the dual roles of producer and trader. There are no power looms or cloth mills in the state even today, and these women weavers are to be credited for preserving Manipur’s heritage by laboriously producing traditional textiles by hand. Globalisation and the opening of global markets may require their skills and knowledge to be upgraded to face the competition, and this study is an attempt to understand the world of the women weavers of Manipur in the context of a changing society. Their integral role in an industrially backward state is reflected in the lives of the 300 women selected for this study, which examines their socioeconomic conditions; the advantages and disadvantages associated with their working conditions; aspects of their health, wages and aspirations; their social relations with family and community; as well as the changing market structure, the technology used and production. Thus, an exploration of the women weavers’ lives becomes a matter of acknowledging their contribution to society in the performance of their duties and roles according to their capacity, culture and traditions.