CARPET WEAVERS AND WEAVING IN THE ... - Cornell University

Due to the gap in time between previous research and this study, it remains to
be seen if all of these modes of production still exist in the context of Turkish
weaving. Which modes of production are most likely to be affected by the removal of
the trade tariffs and the increased competition that has followed? Have modes of
production been differentially affected by the capitalist-oriented economic
development that has taken place, or by the economic crisis of 2001? These questions
also raise issues of international policy and the impact of the global economy on the
carpet weaving industry.
2.4.2 External factors affecting weavers
Globalization has affected and in some cases interfered with cultural heritages and
value systems (Breu and Marchese 1999, 247). Prior to the 1960s carpets in Mugla
were woven for dowry and “sold only during periods of financial hardship” (Jirousek
1994, 229). The global economy has impacted weavers both via merchants who
transmit information about the market, and also directly as economic opportunities
become available and change villages where carpets are produced (Breu and Marchese
1999, 247).
When traditional handicrafts become commoditized it changes the lives of the
weavers – what was now “leisure” becomes separated from “work” through “a certain
degree of work discipline, control of output, [and] following directions for patterns,
colors and size, for example” (Gumen 1989, 158). Both Incirioglu (1991) and
Landreau (1996), also an anthropologist, describe this in terms of alienation of
producer from product. “The workers may begin to distinguish between the worlds of
production and reproduction in the home, since carpet making brings in an income (no
matter how low). In other words, they may begin to question the traditional
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