Malay handicraft industries : origins and development / Wan Hashim Wan Teh

In his previous work on Peasants under peripheral capitalism the writer argued that the impact of capitalism upon the small peasant producers in Malaysia took a different form from that which characterized West European social formations. In this new study of four types of village or cottage industry, the writer conducted fieldwork in the Malay states of Kelantan and Terengganu to examine the origins, development, and the current situation of batik making, songket weaving, woodcarving, and plaiting. He came to a conclusion similar to that his previous work on the Malay peasants. He found that these traditional and small scale producers were able to resist the destructive impact of capitalism and consequently expand their scale of production while not losing the traditional characteristics of cottage industry. The writer also examined the historical, cultural and aesthetic aspects of the handicraft products and their significance in the context of national cultural development.