Advancing Traditional Textile Weaving to the Frontline of the Revolution:Women's Textile Production in the Taihang Liberated Areas
This article focuses on the practice of women's textile weaving in the Taihang liberated areas in the border region connecting Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan provinces from 1943 to 1949.The authors examine the process in which women came to practice and un-derstand spinning and weaving and identify two aspects in the spread of textile technology,namely,communication mechanism and women in practice as subjects.They argue that there existed a relationship between material production and revolutionary politics in women's technological practices.Drawing on historical materials,this study demonstrates that through technical practices such as produc-tion exhibitions,economic calculations,democratic discussions,organized labor,grassroots cadres and masses in the liberated areas broke through the tradition of male-centred technological monopoly of the industry,and constructed a productive relationship in which the mas-ses(especially women)are the technical practitioners.As a result,the textile production not only provided the basic sustenance of sol-diers and local people,but also accumulated useful experiences of grassroots technical practice for the PRC.This study opens a window for us to observe technology-in the hands of women,that traditional textile weaving had combined meaning of making cloth and gaining a sense of liberation.Such combination helped intertwine material production and revolutionary politics into the warp and weft of the"new society".This revisit will provide us with an inspiration for further consideration of the dialectical relationship between gender and technology,as well as production and politics.
women's textile productiondiffusion of technologypractice of the massesliberated areasgender and technology
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