Common Threads explores the ties that bind India and Africa through the material medium of cloth, from antiquity to the present. Cloth made in India has been sold across African markets for... Show moreCommon Threads explores the ties that bind India and Africa through the material medium of cloth, from antiquity to the present. Cloth made in India has been sold across African markets for millennia, by Indian, African, and European traders. The history of this trade offers perspectives into the rich stories of bi-directorial migrations of peoples, across the Indian Ocean, the exchange of visual aesthetics, and the co-production of cultures in the two geographies. Common Threads uses photographs to tell the story of the creation of these textiles in India, which today is concentrated in the small town of Jetpur in the Rajkot district of Gujarat. It sheds light on the artists and the agencies in India that are involved in the design, production, and logistics of this enterprise. Most significantly, it highlights the role of African consumers in defining the evolution of these genres of fabric, and the centrality of people-to-people connections in sustaining the continued cosmopolitanism of these transoceanic connectivities Show less
This study deals with the social history of industrialization and labour in Iran from the inception of the constitutional system in 1906 until the end of Reza Shah’s reign in 1941. It does so by... Show moreThis study deals with the social history of industrialization and labour in Iran from the inception of the constitutional system in 1906 until the end of Reza Shah’s reign in 1941. It does so by particularly referring to the textile industry. In the main, the study seeks to discuss the Iranian industries before and after the large scale industrial leap-forward of 1930s in order to examine the conditions of the working people. The introductory Chapter One discusses the theoretical framework of the research. Chapter Two presents an historical background of the 19th century, insofar as it relates to the period investigated in this work. Chapter Three deals with an overview of the main political, economic and social developments of the years between 1906 and 1941. Chapter Four examines the Iranian industrialization between 1906 and 1941. Chapter Five investigates labour issues. Such issues as the discursive formation of the Iranian working class, the nature of the labour force in Iran during the period under study, labour legislation, working hours, sanitary conditions and workers’ attempts at improving their working and living conditions provide the main concern of this chapter. Chapter Six contains some concluding assessments and suggestions for further research. Show less
