by
Mary A. Littrell and Marsha A. Dickson
MarketPlace
Handwork of India, a 300-artisan enterprise in Mumbai, India, practices social
entrepreneurship. As an Alternative
Trade Organization, MarketPlace fosters “fair trade” as they seek to balance
profitability with artisan well-being.
The India-inspired clothing and household textiles, with their intense
colors and dramatic motifs, are marketed in the United States through specialty
retail stores and MarketPlace’s mail-order catalog. This paper assesses impacts of artisan work on women’s
capabilities, livelihood, and quality of life gained from interviews with 56 women
and from 30 artisans’ photo-documentation of their typical days and identities
as women. During the interviews,
artisans described enhanced livelihood and well-being as they increased and
stabilized their incomes, established workshops that served as physical and
psychological refuges against the abusive household relationships, “took
decisions” as business entrepreneurs and as leaders in their households, and
engaged in “social action” projects for improving the sanitation, health,
literacy, and food distribution practices in their communities. Women who in the past rarely left their
neighborhood lanes in the Golibar slum now planned textile production, opened
savings accounts, placed orders by telephone, and traveled across Mumbai to
work with other artisans. Using their
photos, artisans further described their daily responsibilities including the
eight to ten hours devoted to gathering water, accompanying children to school,
and preparing family meals. The feasibility of alternative employment
opportunities for MarketPlace artisans, many of whom are widows, primary income
generators, and responsible for a complex array of household duties are
assessed.
Mary A. Littrell
is Professor ofTextiles and Clothing at Iowa State University, having received
her Ph.D. from Purdue University. Marsha
A. Dickson is Associate Professor of Textiles and Clothing at Kansas State
University, having received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University. Littrell and Dickson have conducted research
on fair trade marketing in the U.S. and among textile artisan groups in
Guatemala and India, where they currently are co-directors of an Earthwatch
Institute project focused on assessing impacts of artisan work. Their publications include Social Responsibility in the Global Market:
Fair Trade of Cultural Products and numerous articles in Human Organization, Clothing and Textiles
Research Journal, Journal of Global Marketing, Journal of Fashion Marketing and
Management, Annals of Tourism, and Journal
of Tourism Research.