MATERIAL CULTURE OF TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION: AN INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY REBUILDING OF SOLAPUR INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE
Keywords:
Industrial archaeology, Solapur textile history, technological modernization, Solapuri chaddar, material culture, power loomAbstract
The paper re-constructs the industrial environment of Solapur in industrial archaeological perspective to formulate the patterns of technological modernization in a local Indian textile and light-industrial hub. Using a mix of archival materials, state industrial profiles, a survey of materials described in local studies, and the study of artefacts and built fabric, the study follows the transformations between household hand-loom production and power-loom and mill production, the place of specialized products (especially the Solapuri chaddar), and the infrastructural networks that facilitated industrial change. The article maintains that material culture (surviving mill-buildings, clusters of power-loom, weaving equipment and associated industrial infrastructure) records diverse modernization marked by hybrid technology adoption, spatial restructuring of production and disproportionate social and environmental impacts. The paper ends with recommendations on the industrial heritage documentation, community involvement of the community, and policy intervention to preserve and explain the industrial history of Solapur.
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References
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