Informality, Precarity, And Gender In The Zardozi Industry Of Farrukhabad

Book Code: 1111036803304

Dr. Pragya Tripathi

ABOUT THE BOOK

The study is based upon the deep understanding and analysis of informal laborers working as zardozi artisans in a semi-urban city i.e. Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. Zardozi, a traditional craft that originated in ancient Persia, is based upon the embroidery technique of real gold and silver threads used to sew patterns of floral and designs inspired from nature onto expensive materials. It provides a detailed account of the Zardoz living in Farrukhabad to assess their socio-economic condition and share their personal narratives of poverty and precarity both as a home based female labor and karkhana male karigar. Providing a detailed analysis of the everyday life of the Zardoz, the book aims to provide a new perspective into the contemporary trends of informality in a developing nation where its rise is due to its labor intensive nature, particularly in the artisan/craftworks industry. New insights into economic struggles, political silence, health issues, and social challenges have been provided that can guide local policy decisions, guide NGOs and other stakeholders to support and preserve the traditional craft as the youth no longer wishes to embroider in exchange for abysmally low returns.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Pragya Tripathi is currently working as an Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, at Durga Narayan PG College affiliated to Kanpur University. The book is the outcome of the short term project funded by CV Raman minor project, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University (CSJM), focussing on the socio-economic life of zardozi workers in Farrukhabad. She holds her PhD from Lucknow University on the issue of Agrarian Distress in Bundelkhand in 2022 and her MPhil from Delhi School of Economics on Post-feminism in 2016. She did her Masters in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2014 and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in 2012. She has attended and presented multiple papers at national and international conferences associated with International Sociological Society, Folklore and Culture and others, and published papers on issues of agrarian distress, feminization of agriculture, gender, digitalisation of education and others. She prepared a podcast on Gender Gap and Covid-19 vaccination on Spotify while working with Sama (NGO).

CONTENTS