HANDICRAFTS AS CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC SOFT POWER: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF INDIA AND AFRICA

Abstract

The handicrafts represent both cultural and economic soft power in the case of regions of India and Africa. It attempts to transcend the romanticisation or the mere description of the problem, putting the handicrafts into the context of theoretical discussions of soft power and indigenous knowledge, and critically but attentively using the empirical evidence in the form of credible government reports, multilateral institutions, and peer-reviewed literature. Instead of presenting a shallow statistical comparison, the present paper provides a more contextual and analytical approach to bring out similarities and differences in institutional structures, cultural definitions, and economic integration of handicraft as cultural and ecological soft power. By doing so, it would seek to add to a more sophisticated understanding of how the mundane practices of cultures, like handicrafts, have a globalised perception and influence in small but long-lasting ways.