Abstract
Based on ethnography among handloom mat-weavers in South India, this article asks how persons and things become agents, and what this process involves. Foucault's concept of the heterotopia is utilized to think through the puzzle seen in 'traditional Indian craft', but not restricted to it: why and how are certain marginalized persons and things brought by powerful others to the centre of a framed social space? How does this repositioning simultaneously enhance and constrain the capacity of these persons and things to act effectively? The article also proposes a way of thinking about acting things while avoiding the problem of intentionality. © 2009 Royal Anthropological Institute.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 78-95 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2009 |