... Undressing Religion: Commitment and Conversion from a Cross-Cultural Perspective William JF K... more ... Undressing Religion: Commitment and Conversion from a Cross-Cultural Perspective William JF Keenan, Dressed to Impress: Looking the Par t Joanne Entwistle and Elizabeth Wilson, Body Dressing Leigh Summers, Bound to ... Stockpile of silk saris, May 2000, Delhi 129 20. ...
Journal of Material Culture Vol 17(4) pp389-404., 2012
This article examines the complex interweaving of moral values, material goods and market economi... more This article examines the complex interweaving of moral values, material goods and market economies arising where unwanted clothing donated to Western charities is transformed through industrial fibre recycling in India into millions of aid blankets distributed worldwide as humanitarian relief. The commoditisation of the donor’s gift, its destruction, transformation and subsequent use as a gift once more reveals how the moral values of Western donors, charities, relief agencies and aid recipients are negotiated through the global used-textile economy. In contrast to contemporary moral discourses on thrift and sustainable consumption practices that promote values associated with longevity, durability and resourcefulness, the ephemerality of the aid blanket made from recycled fibres materialises the tensions and uncertainties surrounding social and economic reconstruction in crisis zones. Through its qualities and affordances, the material is deeply implicated in the construction of moral economies.
The paper addresses the consumption of recycled sari clothing by Western tourists in India. Secon... more The paper addresses the consumption of recycled sari clothing by Western tourists in India. Second-hand saris are traded across north India, and re-made into new styles of clothing for the Western market by local tailors. The saris are cut up, destroying both the Indian form of the garment and the structure of patterns across its surface. These are then transformed either into copies of their own clothing or into hybrid forms favoured by backpackers travelling across Asia. It examines the potential of these decorative silk fabrics to translate images of the traveller's transience and impermanence through their own adaptability and change in form, while enabling various nuanced perceptions of belonging. It is argued that such feelings of association simultaneously work on the level of opening up an avenue for individual self-expression, for fitting in with other tourists through the creation of a specific sartorial culture, and for referencing at a distance the host culture through which they are travelling by the re-use of local aesthetics. Finally, it points to the potential for new research into the consumption of these garments in their native countries, and incorporation of such clothing into the wardrobes of travellers once they return home.
The consumption of clothing fashioned from recycled textile fibre waste poses a challenge for buy... more The consumption of clothing fashioned from recycled textile fibre waste poses a challenge for buyers not simply due to fears of a loss of quality, but also to fears of ‘dirt’ and contagion. These concerns appear to reside in cast-off clothing’s intimate links with unknown bodies, and cultural perceptions of the recycling system’s ability to properly ‘clean’ these materials and transform them back again into textile fibres that can be worn again on the body. The fashion industry currently recycles less than 1% of its own cast-offs back into clothing, despite mainstream economists’ claims that keeping fibres in circulation for longer is not only environmentally sustainable but also economically advantageous: closed-loop business models secure resources in an increasingly competitive market still focused upon growth. Here it is argued that the drive towards a more circular fashion system in Europe brings competing frameworks of purity into the same field, where cultural values ascribed...
Abstract Circular economy (CE) models are driving the next restructuring of global textile produc... more Abstract Circular economy (CE) models are driving the next restructuring of global textile production and secondary markets, but their socio-political configurations are largely untested. New textile recycling technologies have the potential to redirect material resource flows, disrupt global secondary markets and reconfigure the waste hierarchy. Mainstream CE modelling tends to include people simply as product users in a system of material flows governed by large brands. However, anthropological research into collaborations of small-scale urban designer-producers show how they are using CE principles to prototype new regional cloth economies that aim to reproduce the types of societies they wish to live in.
Those of us living in the global north are increasingly urged to divert cast-off clothing from th... more Those of us living in the global north are increasingly urged to divert cast-off clothing from the local waste stream and donate it for reuse and recycling. It is argued that this is the right thing to do, since it is environmentally responsible behaviour, conserves resources, and supports charities via collection systems. Secondhand clothing is thereby culturally framed as waste, as a surplus, and as a morally-charged product that has a powerful redemptive capacity for donors, multiple recyclers and secondary consumers. Two-thirds of collected used clothing is commercially exported for reuse in developing countries, and it is as a freely-traded commodity that it is claimed to grow markets and support livelihoods in the global south, rather than a fairly-traded product. As policy-makers in Northern Europe seek to improve sustainable systems of textile reuse and recycling, ethical issues associated with distant destination markets in the global South are beginning to garner attention. Imported used clothing is ubiquitous in India despite highly restrictive tariff barriers, and the Indian market provides a thought-provoking example since in this case the trade is neither fair nor free. The paper evidences the complexity of the market as vertical hierarchies of dealers negotiate and expand the multiple spaces between legal and illegal commodity flows, and formal and informal economies, to build successful businesses. It reflects upon debates in India around democracy, development and neoliberal economics, and suggests that efforts to introduce ethical interventions in end markets will have to negotiate the nexus of power, politics and corruption.
Abstract This article draws out some of the broader themes arising from the study of secondhand c... more Abstract This article draws out some of the broader themes arising from the study of secondhand clothing economies, as an introduction to this special issue. The articles in the issue address worn clothing markets and recycling technologies from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, charting the expansion of the trade from relative scarcity in the longue durée to the current global industry dealing in millions of tons of used clothing. The used clothing economy brings into one frame the links between the market, materiality and morals, revealing complex connections as gifts of clothing are commodified by charities in the Global North, sold onto the international market, and become a resource for developing local livelihoods in the Global South. The heterogeneity of materials and the temporalities of fashion cycles and disposal strategies create a variable supply of unknown quality and quantity, for which differential markets must be developed, yet more work needs to be done to understand where the maximum value is extracted, and how this might be measured; issues of reciprocity, power and inequality are implicated at each stage. This article suggests that the specificity of the secondhand clothing economy has much to offer contemporary theoretical concerns with economization, marketization, and the convergence of economic value with cultural values.
This article calls for a reconsideration of the materiality of things in dynamic processes of sel... more This article calls for a reconsideration of the materiality of things in dynamic processes of self-making and personhood. Grounded in research in contemporary urban India, it is argued that it is in the act of divestment that the capacity for the recreation of the self is made most apparent, due to the intimate connection between clothing and the body. Cloth is also a vital element of gift-giving and the recreation of social networks. The case study of a woman trying to get rid of an unwanted garment highlights the options available and the different regimes of value by which the worth of used clothing can be assessed. These include handing on treasured pieces to family members, recycling within the home, giving to servants, bartering them for new stainless steel pots or burning them for their silver and gold content. The sacrifice and destruction of such intimate objects are the necessary prerequisite for the renewal of self within a network of mutually constitutive person-object relations.
This paper argues that producers in developing economies aiming to get a better deal may choose u... more This paper argues that producers in developing economies aiming to get a better deal may choose upgrading strategies that are highly influenced at the local level by relative positions of power in horizontal networks, and not only approaches aiming to increase value capture along vertical global production chains. Using the case study of a declining handloom industry in northern Kerala, the paper examines why local marketing strategies do not do more to capitalise on the brand value of Kerala's achievements in social development and attempt to engage with ethical consumption initiatives in end markets. Rather, while cooperatives seek to gain more of the labour value of the goods they produce, local merchants focus upon aesthetic qualities and claims to regional authenticity through accreditation with Geographical Indication.
Cast(e)-off clothing. A response to K. Tranberg Hansen (AT 20[4]). ... Norris, L (2005) Cast(e)-o... more Cast(e)-off clothing. A response to K. Tranberg Hansen (AT 20[4]). ... Norris, L (2005) Cast(e)-off clothing. A response to K. Tranberg Hansen (AT 20[4]). Anthropology Today , 21 (3) 24 - ?. ... Full text not available from this repository. ... Cast(e)-off clothing. A ...
This article examines the complex interweaving of moral values, material goods and market economi... more This article examines the complex interweaving of moral values, material goods and market economies arising where unwanted clothing donated to Western charities is transformed through industrial fibre recycling in India into millions of aid blankets distributed worldwide as humanitarian relief. The commoditisation of the donor’s gift, its destruction, transformation and subsequent use as a gift once more reveals how the moral values of Western donors, charities, relief agencies and aid recipients are negotiated through the global used-textile economy. In contrast to contemporary moral discourses on thrift and sustainable consumption practices that promote values associated with longevity, durability and resourcefulness, the ephemerality of the aid blanket made from recycled fibres materialises the tensions and uncertainties surrounding social and economic reconstruction in crisis zones. Through its qualities and affordances, the material is deeply implicated in the construction of m...
... Undressing Religion: Commitment and Conversion from a Cross-Cultural Perspective William JF K... more ... Undressing Religion: Commitment and Conversion from a Cross-Cultural Perspective William JF Keenan, Dressed to Impress: Looking the Par t Joanne Entwistle and Elizabeth Wilson, Body Dressing Leigh Summers, Bound to ... Stockpile of silk saris, May 2000, Delhi 129 20. ...
Journal of Material Culture Vol 17(4) pp389-404., 2012
This article examines the complex interweaving of moral values, material goods and market economi... more This article examines the complex interweaving of moral values, material goods and market economies arising where unwanted clothing donated to Western charities is transformed through industrial fibre recycling in India into millions of aid blankets distributed worldwide as humanitarian relief. The commoditisation of the donor’s gift, its destruction, transformation and subsequent use as a gift once more reveals how the moral values of Western donors, charities, relief agencies and aid recipients are negotiated through the global used-textile economy. In contrast to contemporary moral discourses on thrift and sustainable consumption practices that promote values associated with longevity, durability and resourcefulness, the ephemerality of the aid blanket made from recycled fibres materialises the tensions and uncertainties surrounding social and economic reconstruction in crisis zones. Through its qualities and affordances, the material is deeply implicated in the construction of moral economies.
The paper addresses the consumption of recycled sari clothing by Western tourists in India. Secon... more The paper addresses the consumption of recycled sari clothing by Western tourists in India. Second-hand saris are traded across north India, and re-made into new styles of clothing for the Western market by local tailors. The saris are cut up, destroying both the Indian form of the garment and the structure of patterns across its surface. These are then transformed either into copies of their own clothing or into hybrid forms favoured by backpackers travelling across Asia. It examines the potential of these decorative silk fabrics to translate images of the traveller's transience and impermanence through their own adaptability and change in form, while enabling various nuanced perceptions of belonging. It is argued that such feelings of association simultaneously work on the level of opening up an avenue for individual self-expression, for fitting in with other tourists through the creation of a specific sartorial culture, and for referencing at a distance the host culture through which they are travelling by the re-use of local aesthetics. Finally, it points to the potential for new research into the consumption of these garments in their native countries, and incorporation of such clothing into the wardrobes of travellers once they return home.
The consumption of clothing fashioned from recycled textile fibre waste poses a challenge for buy... more The consumption of clothing fashioned from recycled textile fibre waste poses a challenge for buyers not simply due to fears of a loss of quality, but also to fears of ‘dirt’ and contagion. These concerns appear to reside in cast-off clothing’s intimate links with unknown bodies, and cultural perceptions of the recycling system’s ability to properly ‘clean’ these materials and transform them back again into textile fibres that can be worn again on the body. The fashion industry currently recycles less than 1% of its own cast-offs back into clothing, despite mainstream economists’ claims that keeping fibres in circulation for longer is not only environmentally sustainable but also economically advantageous: closed-loop business models secure resources in an increasingly competitive market still focused upon growth. Here it is argued that the drive towards a more circular fashion system in Europe brings competing frameworks of purity into the same field, where cultural values ascribed...
Abstract Circular economy (CE) models are driving the next restructuring of global textile produc... more Abstract Circular economy (CE) models are driving the next restructuring of global textile production and secondary markets, but their socio-political configurations are largely untested. New textile recycling technologies have the potential to redirect material resource flows, disrupt global secondary markets and reconfigure the waste hierarchy. Mainstream CE modelling tends to include people simply as product users in a system of material flows governed by large brands. However, anthropological research into collaborations of small-scale urban designer-producers show how they are using CE principles to prototype new regional cloth economies that aim to reproduce the types of societies they wish to live in.
Those of us living in the global north are increasingly urged to divert cast-off clothing from th... more Those of us living in the global north are increasingly urged to divert cast-off clothing from the local waste stream and donate it for reuse and recycling. It is argued that this is the right thing to do, since it is environmentally responsible behaviour, conserves resources, and supports charities via collection systems. Secondhand clothing is thereby culturally framed as waste, as a surplus, and as a morally-charged product that has a powerful redemptive capacity for donors, multiple recyclers and secondary consumers. Two-thirds of collected used clothing is commercially exported for reuse in developing countries, and it is as a freely-traded commodity that it is claimed to grow markets and support livelihoods in the global south, rather than a fairly-traded product. As policy-makers in Northern Europe seek to improve sustainable systems of textile reuse and recycling, ethical issues associated with distant destination markets in the global South are beginning to garner attention. Imported used clothing is ubiquitous in India despite highly restrictive tariff barriers, and the Indian market provides a thought-provoking example since in this case the trade is neither fair nor free. The paper evidences the complexity of the market as vertical hierarchies of dealers negotiate and expand the multiple spaces between legal and illegal commodity flows, and formal and informal economies, to build successful businesses. It reflects upon debates in India around democracy, development and neoliberal economics, and suggests that efforts to introduce ethical interventions in end markets will have to negotiate the nexus of power, politics and corruption.
Abstract This article draws out some of the broader themes arising from the study of secondhand c... more Abstract This article draws out some of the broader themes arising from the study of secondhand clothing economies, as an introduction to this special issue. The articles in the issue address worn clothing markets and recycling technologies from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, charting the expansion of the trade from relative scarcity in the longue durée to the current global industry dealing in millions of tons of used clothing. The used clothing economy brings into one frame the links between the market, materiality and morals, revealing complex connections as gifts of clothing are commodified by charities in the Global North, sold onto the international market, and become a resource for developing local livelihoods in the Global South. The heterogeneity of materials and the temporalities of fashion cycles and disposal strategies create a variable supply of unknown quality and quantity, for which differential markets must be developed, yet more work needs to be done to understand where the maximum value is extracted, and how this might be measured; issues of reciprocity, power and inequality are implicated at each stage. This article suggests that the specificity of the secondhand clothing economy has much to offer contemporary theoretical concerns with economization, marketization, and the convergence of economic value with cultural values.
This article calls for a reconsideration of the materiality of things in dynamic processes of sel... more This article calls for a reconsideration of the materiality of things in dynamic processes of self-making and personhood. Grounded in research in contemporary urban India, it is argued that it is in the act of divestment that the capacity for the recreation of the self is made most apparent, due to the intimate connection between clothing and the body. Cloth is also a vital element of gift-giving and the recreation of social networks. The case study of a woman trying to get rid of an unwanted garment highlights the options available and the different regimes of value by which the worth of used clothing can be assessed. These include handing on treasured pieces to family members, recycling within the home, giving to servants, bartering them for new stainless steel pots or burning them for their silver and gold content. The sacrifice and destruction of such intimate objects are the necessary prerequisite for the renewal of self within a network of mutually constitutive person-object relations.
This paper argues that producers in developing economies aiming to get a better deal may choose u... more This paper argues that producers in developing economies aiming to get a better deal may choose upgrading strategies that are highly influenced at the local level by relative positions of power in horizontal networks, and not only approaches aiming to increase value capture along vertical global production chains. Using the case study of a declining handloom industry in northern Kerala, the paper examines why local marketing strategies do not do more to capitalise on the brand value of Kerala's achievements in social development and attempt to engage with ethical consumption initiatives in end markets. Rather, while cooperatives seek to gain more of the labour value of the goods they produce, local merchants focus upon aesthetic qualities and claims to regional authenticity through accreditation with Geographical Indication.
Cast(e)-off clothing. A response to K. Tranberg Hansen (AT 20[4]). ... Norris, L (2005) Cast(e)-o... more Cast(e)-off clothing. A response to K. Tranberg Hansen (AT 20[4]). ... Norris, L (2005) Cast(e)-off clothing. A response to K. Tranberg Hansen (AT 20[4]). Anthropology Today , 21 (3) 24 - ?. ... Full text not available from this repository. ... Cast(e)-off clothing. A ...
This article examines the complex interweaving of moral values, material goods and market economi... more This article examines the complex interweaving of moral values, material goods and market economies arising where unwanted clothing donated to Western charities is transformed through industrial fibre recycling in India into millions of aid blankets distributed worldwide as humanitarian relief. The commoditisation of the donor’s gift, its destruction, transformation and subsequent use as a gift once more reveals how the moral values of Western donors, charities, relief agencies and aid recipients are negotiated through the global used-textile economy. In contrast to contemporary moral discourses on thrift and sustainable consumption practices that promote values associated with longevity, durability and resourcefulness, the ephemerality of the aid blanket made from recycled fibres materialises the tensions and uncertainties surrounding social and economic reconstruction in crisis zones. Through its qualities and affordances, the material is deeply implicated in the construction of m...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 17450100802376738, Oct 10, 2008
ABSTRACT The paper addresses the consumption of recycled sari clothing by Western tourists in Ind... more ABSTRACT The paper addresses the consumption of recycled sari clothing by Western tourists in India. Second-hand saris are traded across north India, and re-made into new styles of clothing for the Western market by local tailors. The saris are cut up, destroying both the Indian ...
Circular economy (CE) models are driving the next re-structuring of global textile production and... more Circular economy (CE) models are driving the next re-structuring of global textile production and secondary markets, but their socio-political configurations are largely untested. New textile recycling technologies have the potential to redirect material resource flows, disrupt global secondary markets and reconfigure the waste hierarchy. Mainstream CE modelling tends to include people simply as product users in a system of material flows governed by large brands. However, anthropological research into collaborations of small-scale urban designer-producers show how they are using CE principles to prototype new regional cloth economies that aim to re-produce the types of societies they wish to live in.
In Kuchler S and Miller D Clothing As Material Culture Berg Oxford New York, 2005
-5-Cloth That Lies: The Secrets of Recycling in India Lucy Norris There has long been perceived t... more -5-Cloth That Lies: The Secrets of Recycling in India Lucy Norris There has long been perceived to be a divide between scholars of clothing, dress history and contemporary fashion on the one hand, and work on the economic and social conditions of the production and ...
What makes a textile modern? The recycling of clothing in the Punjabi shoddy trade. ... Norris, L... more What makes a textile modern? The recycling of clothing in the Punjabi shoddy trade. ... Norris, L (2006) What makes a textile modern? The recycling of clothing in the Punjabi shoddy trade. In: Rogerson, C and Garside,, (eds.) The Future of the Twentieth Century: ...
Textile Economies: Power and Value from the Local to …, 2011
... As early as the 1930s, the Thiyya caste was encouraged by both Sri Naryayana Guru and Vaghabh... more ... As early as the 1930s, the Thiyya caste was encouraged by both Sri Naryayana Guru and Vaghabhadananda Guru to improve their economic ... Manufacturers started exporting directly in 1955 (Balan 2005), and many more factories opened in the 1970s to cash in on the Western ...
Norris, Lucy IN Alexander, Catherine and Reno, Josh (Eds.) Economies of Recycling: The global transformation of materials, values and social relations. London: Zed Books. Pp 35-58., 2012
Norris, Lucy (2011) IN McAnany, Patricia & Walter Little (Eds.) Textile Economies: Power and Value from the Local to the Transnational. Lanham, MD, Altamira Press. (Society for Economic Anthropology Monographs Vol. 29). pp 285-306, 2011
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