Constructing cultural identity through weaving among Ri-Bhoi women weavers: a symbolic interactionist approach

With this interpretive study, the authors sought to understand how weaving as an activity contributed to constructing women handloom weavers’ cultural identity in the region of Ri-Bhoi, a district in Meghalaya, India, by exploring weavers’ experiences through changing tides of modernization in the handloom industry of the region. The authors adopted a lens of symbolic interaction to consider the ways in which interactions within the Ri-Bhoi cultural context contributed to meanings about the women’s weaving activities and their cultural identities. An ethnographic approach was implemented using participant observation, field notes/journaling, and informal and formal interviews to collect relevant data