ABSTRACT
I have discussed in the previous chapter the crucial role of children in the artisanal fisheries’ resilience in the face of modernization and the expansion of foreign markets. For coir, another major sector of the rural economy, the situation is different. Foreign demand for the product has been steadily diminishing. The decline of the sector, prompted by the introduction of synthetic floor coverings in the west, set in in the early 1960s, during the very same years of the ‘pink gold rush’. What has been the impact of this slump on girls’ work? Has it decreased the need for their work? In this chapter I broadly follow the same line of thought as in the last chapter, with the difference that the focus is now on past developments. I begin by discussing the relevance of my Poomkara observations for understanding girls’ work in coir manufacture in other parts of Kerala. I then probe into the meaning of this work for the past prosperity of the industry, analysing, finally, how work relations, and girls’ in particular, have been transformed under the impact of the combined effect of coir’s decline and the growing importance of education (see Table 7.1).
