The Fabric of the Indian Ocean World: Reflections on the Life Cycle of Cloth

Abstract

This chapter explores the dynamism of cloth as an object imagined, fabricated and creatively adapted. Referencing contributions to the volume and other recent work, it promotes a holistic view of cloth as both cultural and economic object, a perspective that acknowledges the ways in which niche markets and complementary processes of alteration have augmented cloth’s socio-economic value and importance as a medium of transregional engagement. As evidenced by the chapters in this collection, a consideration of the long production chains and myriad uses of textiles offers a deeper understanding of the world of the Indian Ocean, the world from the perspective of the Indian Ocean and processes of global integration over many centuries.