Engagement and disengagement from the margins: perceptions of the state by urban Muslim artisans in India

Abstract

This paper examines perceptions of the state by urban Muslim artisans in India. Through ethnographic analysis, I focus on the life and work trajectories of two artisans whose perceptions and experiences of the state differ widely. The common thread running through each artisan's experience is that their engagement or disengagement with the state produces subjectivities that are both deemed authentic. One artisan's involvement with the state serves to authenticate not only her skills and craftsmanship but also her sense of self, while another artisan's refusal to engage with the state authenticates his work and sense of self because of his experience of the state as corrupt. I am particularly interested in how state-issued documents, such as the certificate conferred to winners of the national awards for highly skilled artisans and the artisan identification card, are perceived as legitimate or illegitimate based on ideals of what it means to be an authentic artisan. This paper also examines how conceptualizations of the margins through the medium of documents can provide alternate ways of understanding experiences of the state.

Keywords:

• artisans
• authenticity
• subjectivity
• marginalization
• India

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Deepta Chopra, Dr Bhaskar Vira and Dr Philippa Williams for organizing a series of workshops and conferences, where versions of this paper greatly benefited from discussions and critical feedback. I am also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers who provided valuable feedback, which I hope I was mostly able to address.

Notes

1. Interviews with artisans were conducted both formally and informally, between June 2006 and October 2007 in Old Delhi.

2. Dilli Haat is a well-known government initiative where artisans can sell their crafts directly to customers, who are typically urban Indians and tourists. For a discussion on the state's role in promoting artisans, see Mohsini (2011).

3. With reference to the incentives for winning the award for skilled craftsmanship, Venkatesan (2002, 11) writes, ‘In keeping with their imputed role as social leaders and their superior skill, national award winners are deemed suitable to teach others in the craft through special “apprenticeship training schemes” funded and overseen by the Office of the Development Commissioner, Handicrafts. As the trainer has a say … in who joins the scheme as a trainee, a certain amount of power is vested in him/her. Additionally National Awardees are given preference for participation in National Craft Melas (Fairs) and at international events, they therefore become visible in the wider world that is interested in crafts and are given the opportunity to take up trading. At awards ceremonies, bazaars and craft melas, they are interviewed by members of the local and national press. They become the public face of the craft industry in question. It is thus advantageous in more ways than one to receive a national award.’