Migrant women's indebtedness and (im)mobilities in the handloom industry of Assam (India)
Migrant women's indebtedness and (im)mobilities in the handloom industry of Assam (India)
This study examines how Assamese women weavers in Sualkuchi’s handloom industry finance their everyday lives and assess risks and opportunities through various types of debt and migration. Existing literature primarily focuses on debt-financed transnational migration or internal seasonal migrants becoming indebted to intermediary contractors. Our study extends the field through an examination of non-seasonal migrant women weavers’ reliance on debt. We distinguish various, intersecting forms of debt which reflect the financialisation of everyday lives. Our data demonstrates that migration is a widespread strategy to avoid incurring more high-interest debt in home villages. After migrating to Sualkuchi, weavers borrow both from employers and within mutual aid migrant networks. Debt is incurred to repay existing debt, to cover everyday costs, and to make investments. Migrant women’s life-courses are shaped by both migration and financialisation, offering opportunities they could not access otherwise, while also limiting choices in other aspects.
Assam, Debt, India, financialisation, handloom, informal labour, internal migration, mutual aid, women’s work
Das, Nandini
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Roth, Silke
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Das, Nandini
b64539f1-86eb-4e98-81fd-19f61ec77c7b
Roth, Silke
cd4e63d8-bd84-45c1-b317-5850d2a362b6
Das, Nandini and Roth, Silke
(2025)
Migrant women's indebtedness and (im)mobilities in the handloom industry of Assam (India).
Development in Practice.
(doi:10.1080/09614524.2025.2604179).
Abstract
This study examines how Assamese women weavers in Sualkuchi’s handloom industry finance their everyday lives and assess risks and opportunities through various types of debt and migration. Existing literature primarily focuses on debt-financed transnational migration or internal seasonal migrants becoming indebted to intermediary contractors. Our study extends the field through an examination of non-seasonal migrant women weavers’ reliance on debt. We distinguish various, intersecting forms of debt which reflect the financialisation of everyday lives. Our data demonstrates that migration is a widespread strategy to avoid incurring more high-interest debt in home villages. After migrating to Sualkuchi, weavers borrow both from employers and within mutual aid migrant networks. Debt is incurred to repay existing debt, to cover everyday costs, and to make investments. Migrant women’s life-courses are shaped by both migration and financialisation, offering opportunities they could not access otherwise, while also limiting choices in other aspects.
Text
Migrant women s indebtedness and im mobilities in the handloom industry of Assam India
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Accepted/In Press date: 29 October 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 22 December 2025
Keywords:
Assam, Debt, India, financialisation, handloom, informal labour, internal migration, mutual aid, women’s work
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 508364
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/508364
ISSN: 0961-4524
PURE UUID: 0fa11ac1-9bab-4091-bd89-1da7fe9034da
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Date deposited: 20 Jan 2026 17:39
Last modified: 21 Jan 2026 02:58
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Author:
Nandini Das
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