Interplay Between Rural Craft and Women Livelihood: A Gender Tourism Centric Study in Nanoor, West Bengal

Abstract

Kantha embroidery, a traditional textile from Bengal, embodies a significant convergence of culture, gender, and rural economic systems. This paper examines the socio-economic and gendered labor context and practices of craft makers in Nanoor Mouza, Birbhum district, India by exploring the socio-economic and gender perspective. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the authors have investigated the demographic structure, income, working, and decision-making structures across 61 women artisans. The study concluded that Kantha embroidery acts predominantly as an ancillary source of income in the informal economy, a type characterised by poor and inconsistent earnings, intermediated trade and poor institutional support. While women's participation improves the economic contribution of women, it has little effect on power relations within households, showing that this economic empowerment is very much limited and embedded in the local context. The study also investigates the potential of Nanoor for rural tourism with the help of the Rural Tourism Potentiality Index (RTPI). This area receives a score of 40.5, putting it in the low potential category as there are also infrastructure and culture issues. Kantha is a case study of the need for a clear understanding of the dual reality of economic sustenance and structural marginalization, and where coherent, gender-responsive policy and craft-oriented rural tourism strategies can lead to sustainable development.