“Perish or Globalize:” Network Integration and the Reproduction and Replacement of Weaving Traditions in the Thai Silk Industry

The practice of handmade silk weaving has disappeared from much of the world, but continues to be practiced by thousands of people in Northeastern Thailand. However, as the Thai economy becomes increasingly embedded into global flows and networks of commodities, capital and culture, there are worries that silk weaving as a practice will either cease to be reproduced or will have to radically change in order to service the global market. This paper, based on indepth interviews and surveys with sellers of silk, examines this dilemma faced by the industry. It finds that the means through which economic information is codified and transmitted over space and the tastes of non-local markets are ultimately resulting in changes to production practices throughout the country. Despite the fact that the internet is enabling trade and thereby allowing production practices to continue, fears are being realized about traditional practices being replaced as producers become ever more integrated into global networks. 1 Creative Commons licence: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 2011, 10 (3), 458-482 459 One day surely I will be gone. You, children, can continue to weave, With mother’s silk and children’s yarn, So the old cloth can turn a new leaf. Taken from the poem: “Real Silk From Mother’s Hand” by Paiwarin Khao-Ngam (1995: 39).