The Production of Public Space from the Flow of Used Clothes

• Iwatani Ayako

  Kyoto University

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

• 古着のフローが生み出す公共空間
• インド、アフマダーバードの都市開発の事例より
• An Example of Urban Development in Ahmedabad, India

Abstract

This article illuminates the generative features of public space within globalization by shedding light on the ow of used clothes (junā kapaḍā) traded on streets in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in India. In previous studies on public space in India, the dominant points of discussion focused on the Indian concept of “public” as distinct from the Western concept, including those who represent “the public.” In those discussions, public space in India has been depicted as multi-layered, and includes the Western concept of “public,” or where the interests of various social actors are contested. This article poses a question related to whether such a picture of counter or contested public space is valid in India that is globalizing. In people’s everyday lives in India, how does the concept of “public,” and the interests of different social actors, intertwine with each other to generate public space? This article examines that question by comparing two different spaces in Ahmedabad: the Gujari Bazar, and the street market for used clothes. It scrutinizes the ow of goods that converges at those locations and gives rise to michi (a Japanese word meaning “way” or “path,” both literally and metaphorically)as a means to understand their particular sociability. “Michi,” in the Buddhist sense, derives from Sanskrit gati, which means “place”(where people go after death), and is nominalized from the verb, “go” or “move.” It connotes the process of becoming something di erent. With that understanding, the various functions and meanings of Indian streets (rasto in Gujarati)share the same generative and semantic aspect of michi. It is through the exploration of the social and commercial networks found along Ahmedabad’s streetscapes that this article identifies the social processes of generating public space. This article does not regard different Indian spaces as contested, nor does it suggest that the public character has waned due to processes of globalization. Instead, those spaces can be viewed as connected by giving rise to different types of michi. (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)

Journal

• Japanese Journal of Cultural Anthropology

  Japanese Journal of Cultural Anthropology 82 (2), 213-232, 2017

  Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology

Keywords

• Public Space
• Used Clothes
• Flow
• Ahmedabad
• globalization

Details

• CRID: 1390001205805991680
• NII Article ID: 130006701937
• DOI: 10.14890/jjcanth.82.2_213
• ISSN: 24240516
• ISSN: 13490648
• Text Lang: ja
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed