The Fabric of Resistance: Textile Workshops and the Rise of Rebellious Landscapes in Colonial Peru

Abstract

This monograph uncovers the fascinating story of the textile workshop (obraje) in Pomacocha, located in the Ayacucho region, Peru. After its foundation in 1689, the workshop developed into a thriving hub of textile production fueling the vibrant cross-Andean cloth trade. More than a hundred working families lived in Pomacocha, subjugated to the colonial regimes of debt slavery, forced labor, bondage, and prison labor. The Fabric of Resistance is a compelling, rich, and provocative study, based on a wide range of evidence and a dazzling mix of methods—ranging from archaeological analysis, political geography, social network analysis, archival research, and demographic studies to spatial analysis. The volume situates textile production at the heart of processes of identity formation in the colonial Andes. The obraje, Hu shows, was the arena where identities, communities, and social cohesion took on shape, and where colonial rule, as well as opposition, got negotiated. The volume knots together the history of labor, resistance, race, and colonialism, narrated through the lens of the changing social conditions of textile production.