Pupul Jayakar, a reformer from India (who played a role there somewhat akin to Webb’s in America), noted that in her country, there were three million handlooms in operation, supporting the livelihoods of seven million people. This population of makers had stood at the heart of Mahatma Gandhi’s swadeshi movement, which promoted the artisan manufacture of homespun textiles and garments, a rejection of the colonial imports that had devastated the country’s historic craft economy. Gandhi knew well that spinning wheels and handlooms were inefficient in comparison to British factories. He
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