Gender Empowerment Through Weaving Corporative -A Cross Cultural Comparatives Study of Assam and Manipur

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-533-1_15How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Weaving; Gender Empowerment; Cross-Cultural Study; Northeast India

Abstract

Weaving has long been a part of everyday life in Northeast India, not only as a means of livelihood but also as a way of preserving cultural identity. This paper compares the weaving practices of Sualkuchi in Assam and Imphal in Manipur, with a focus on how weaving contributes to gender empowerment. The study is based on interviews with 40 weavers, 20 from each location, and highlights both similarities and differences across the two regions. In Sualkuchi, weaving is carried out by both men and women, though most of the workers are older and have spent decades in the same factories. Their income is steady but controlled by factory owners, leaving them with little scope for ownership or decision-making. In contrast, in Imphal, weaving is largely women’s work and involves younger age groups, with many earning relatively higher incomes. Manipur weavers are also more aware of market trends and sometimes explore independent options after training, though factory owners still guide designs and pricing. In both places, weaving gives women financial independence and a sense of dignity, but challenges remain in terms of recognition, sustainability, and opportunities for growth. The comparison shows that cultural setting and gender roles strongly influence the extent of empowerment achieved through weaving.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Sushmita Konjengbam
AU  - Rishi Chakravarty
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
TI  - Gender Empowerment Through Weaving Corporative -A Cross Cultural Comparatives Study of Assam and Manipur
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Systems and Social Management (ICSSSM-2 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 211
EP  - 226
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-533-1_15
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-533-1_15
ID  - Konjengbam2025
ER  -