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our perspective on the history of cotton textiles is generally governed by Eurocentrism to such an extent that cotton textiles become synonymous with the industrial revolution and the textile mills of Manchester and Lancashire. Modern history of cotton and its nineteenth and twentieth century narratives are well known. However, medieval and early modern history of cotton textiles remains relatively underexplored though some good works in the Indian context have come out of the repertoire of the Aligarh school as well as scholars based in south-west India.
The years between 1200 and 1800 witnessed the steady expansion of consumption and manufacturing of cotton textiles around the globe so much so that after 1500 cotton had become the most important manufactured goods in world trade, India being its pre-eminent centre till the beginning of 19th century. The first part of the volume, comprising six essays, focuses on the cotton textile manufacturing areas of the world like India, China, Italy, Germany, the Ottoman Empire and West Africa during this period. The role of governments in the institutionalisation of cotton cultivation, technical and social organisation of cotton production, patterns of cotton distribution and consumption and gender division of labour in household production of cotton are some of the significant points taken up for discussion by the contributors. Diffusion of raw materials and transfer of technology and its adaptation to different socio-economic contexts across the globe as well as barriers to the growth of textiles manufacturing are highlighted. Cotton textiles acted as "commercial, social and cultural connecters" that shaped tastes, consumption patterns, expectations and material culture of the bulk of population across the globe much before the industrial revolution. The second part of the book is devoted to discussing global trade and consumption of cotton textiles and its impact on the material life of the consumers in Africa, Americas, Europe and Asia. These essays show that clothes, in addition to their exchange value, had use value as well. As markers of status, clothes produced or reinforced social hierarchies. Hence they were central to cultural production and reproduction. Since cloth consumption varied by region and social status, the analyses of different uses and meaning that cotton textiles enjoyed across the globe and linkages between fashion, race and cotton textiles makes for a fascinating reading The beginning of the nineteenth century saw a steady decline in cotton manufacturing in India and from being core of global textile economy, India moved to its periphery. The last part of the book takes up for discussion the rise of cotton revolutions in Europe in the third quarter of the 18th century and their consequences for Asia and Africa as well as "profound cultural and economic interconnections". Banking on density of expertise of its 20th contributors hailing from nine countries and three continents, The Spinning World provides new insight and fresh interpretation on the subject. A substantial bibliography adds to its academic worth. However, absence of pages 128-144 in the book is an inexcusable error on the part of the publisher. It is hoped that this slaughter is confined only to the copy with the reviewer
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The present volume, by
exploring the pre-modern history of cotton and its linkage with modern
industrialisation in a global framework, enriches our understanding of
the history of cotton textiles. A product of Global Economic History
Network, a network of scholars based at the London School of Economics
from 2001-2007, the volume was first published in 2009 by the Oxford
University Press. This is an Indian edition of the volume.