ABSTRACT
Amrit Wilson’s comment reminds us that however we understand cultural diversity and ethnicity these are part of a larger pattern of relations founded upon capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy. The starting point of this paper on the working lives of Gujarati women must therefore situate the ethnography within these relations. As Miles has cogently argued, ethnic relations cannot be abstracted from production relations and the ideology of racism which pervades the state and civil society of Britain (Miles 1982:44-71). In addition, feminists have insisted upon the importance of gender relations, understood to have a material base that sustains the subordination of women.1 These are large issues and I cannot begin in one paper to unravel their complexities, but it is important to raise them, because it is these relations that are brought into focus through my study of Gujarati women, which begins in the factory.
