Travels of the 'Authentic Craftswoman': Representing lives of value across transnational markets

Abstract

This article assesses representations of the ‘authentic craftswoman’ as she travels from an all-women’s cooperative, Haath Ka Honar (HKH), in Rajasthan, India through the transnational craft market. It suggests that the representations at HKH exceed the hegemonic discourses of both the neoliberal (female) ‘entrepreneur’ within international development and ‘authentic’ third-world cultures. In contrast, HKH seeks to produce a market subject, who works within a collective that both reclaims dynamic traditions and guarantees the artisans’ livelihoods. However, this subject and her gendered labour remains governed by market structures, and require 'translation' into these hegemonic discourses in order to become legible and deemed valuable within the market. This study exposes limits to alternative economic structures – particularly regarding their ability, on their own, to change larger capitalist systems that are sustained through gendered and racialised discourses and value systems.