CRAFT, CULTURE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: WEAVING TRADITION IN CHANDERI

Abstract

The art of weaving has been one of the oldest occupations in the +world over and is deeply associated with the culture of production in terms of both material and non-material dimensions. This traditional craft combines both the utilitarian and aesthetics aspects rather intrinsically often providing a vantage point in the study of modernization of tradition. In this article an effort has been made to locate the intersection of culture and business in a rurban setting thus exploring the ambit of business anthropology in Indian context. The study highlights the tradition of craft, the life-world and worldviews of weavers, their trade, toil and transforming lifestyles. It also highlights their impoverishment, exploitation and the wind of change brought through by globalization that is slowly and surely changing the dynamics of market and man-management skill even in the hinterlands.