An exploration of the impact of economic development on Indonesian weavers and their handwoven textiles: Insana, West Timor

Through the art and process of handloom weaving this study examines the complex relationship between the village community and economic development, not only in terms of how economic changes affect village life but also how village community relations and norms influence economic development. The approach identified as cultural analysis is employed to investigate the impact of economic development on female Indonesian weavers and their handwoven textiles in the Insana District on the island of Timor in eastern Indonesia. Observation was utilized in conjunction with in-depth interviews to capture social relations and individual activities that sustain textile production. Three interpretive frameworks provide the basis for data analysis: (1) the economic role of textiles in the household and village community; (2) the changing socio-cultural role of textiles in the household and village; (3) the division of labor and the resources available in household and village textile production. From this vantage point, changes in social relations and organizational patterns of the family and village community were documented. In doing so it became apparent that traditional forms of social relations and culture are not destroyed but are transformed and reinvented as they encounter external forces.