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Freedom Homespun -- National Independence and Textile Production in India
| Title: | Freedom Homespun -- National Independence and Textile Production in India
| | Author: | Bean, Susan S. | | Publication: | Asian Art & Culture | | Enumeration: | vol. 9, p. 52-67, (Spring/Summer 1996) | | Abstract: | The writer discusses the significance of spinning for the program for national
independence in India. Textile manufacture had been the principal industry in India; silk,
cotton, and woolen fabrics had been exported worldwide. British rule and Western industrialization resulted in India becoming, conversely, an importer of cloth and an
exporter of raw cotton and silk fiber. Ghandi, who believed that the decline in textile
manufacture was a main cause of poverty and subjugation in India, saw spinning as central
to the alleviation of poverty, the achievement of self-sufficiency and independence, the
creation of national unity, and the nurture of spiritual strength for India's political and
moral battle. Under Ghandi's leadership, the Indian National Congress decided to boycott
foreign textiles, to require its members to spin cotton and wear homespun cloth, and to
adopt a flag that incorporated the spinning wheel. Although spinning as a way of achieving
self-discipline and spiritual enlightenment did not survive, spinning and homespun cloth
are monuments to Ghandi and the nationalist movement. Source of Abstract: Provided by Publisher | | See Also: | | Tools: |
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