ABSTRACT
Identity is both multi-faceted and embedded in history and culture.1 The interaction of personal subjectivity, of perceptions by others and of the lived experiences of skill, class, gender, race/caste, citizenship/legal standing/family status, religion, town/ region/nation and political ideology define the human identity of te�tile �or�ers. All of these categories overlap and may be challenged, renewed, renegotiated and redefined or shattered during con��icts �ithin the global te�tile industry. �he complicated issues of identity require e�idence on a le�el of e�perience often lacking to historians. Thus, many of the national overviews in this volume focus on economic analysis, but the explanatory power of social history, however devilish, is often in the details of the conte�t. �i�e�ise, any attempt to decide �hich elements of the overlapping categories of identity take precedence in a particular situation requires a detailed historic context and sensitive analysis.
