A review on free trade principle in theory and practice suggests that trade liberalization is merely rhetoric under which industrialized countries can pursue specific interests of certain actors more deceptively. The purpose of this thesis is to testify whether this preliminary result on general trade issues is valid in the textile and clothing sector as well. The reasons for the author to narrow her research scope down to this industry are that: first, textiles and clothing had been subject to consistent trade protectionism for more than thirty years since the discriminatory Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) in 1974; second, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) in 1995 was designed to remove all quota restrictions by 1st January 2005 via a ten-year transitional period; third, the European Union (EU) raised safeguard investigations within four months after the expiry of the agreement, and succeeded in re-introducing quantitative restraints back to this sector. The intense and dramatic Europe-China textile dispute in 2005 started from the completion of quota abolishment, but ended up with quota re-imposition, which inspires the author to ask whether the European Union’s trade liberalization in the textile and clothing sector is rhetoric or reality. The thesis examines the conventional stance of the Union’s textile and clothing policy, the actual fulfillment of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), and the development of the Europe-China trade dispute on in 2005. In order to identify involved interest groups and their demands during the implementation of the agreement and in the dispute shortly afterwards, the thesis also analyzes: first, the interaction between protectionist lobbying groups and national governments at the Union’s level; and second, the divergence on the attitudes towards China’s expansion in the European market among member states.             Comparing the Union’s early promises in the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) with its actual behaviors during implementation and in dispute, the author finally concludes that the Union’s trade liberalization in the textile and clothing sector is merely rhetoric under which the European Union (EU) pursues the protectionist interests of its domestic textile and clothing producers and those member states with substantial textile and clothing industry.

Statistics show high figures of poverty amongst farm dwellers in South Africa. Poverty is also associated with illiteracy, low life expectancy and high figures of malnutrition. One third of farm workers have no formal education. Very few farm dwellers have access to adequate housing and sanitation. A shortage in food, shelter and clothing leads to constant stress. In spite of extreme poverty, most households possess at least some human- and material resources. Through the effective management of these resources, the quality of life of people can be improved. Poor adults can be guided to better management through education. This study was part of the FLAGH-project where an educational intervention programme was developed, implemented and evaluated. The general goal of this study was to improve the sewing skills of female farm dwellers, in order to use existing resources of time, clothing and other textile articles optimally. Through the optimal use of these resources, less money needs to be spent on items such as clothes. More money can then be available for other basic needs, such as food. The intervention model as described by Fawcett et al. was used for this study. An intervention programme was developed, implemented and evaluated. Women on two farms were taught basic sewing skills to repair and recycle old clothes and other textile goods. Data to determine the success of the programme was gathered by means of practical pre- and post-tests. Paired sample t-tests were used to determine the effect size of the results, in order to determine if there was a practical significant difference in the skills of the women before and after the programme. Independent t-tests were used to determine the average and standard deviation in the evaluations of the two evaluators. Participants completed questionnaires regarding the presenting and compilation of the programme, to determine the success of the programme and to identify problems for possible future implementation of the programme. Results showed an improvement in the sewing skills of participants. Results from the programme evaluation showed that participants experienced the programme positively. The most important advantage of this programme was that participants can continue to apply the skills acquired during the programme, without any extra financial costs. / Thesis (M. Consumer Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Unhome: Objects of Vulnerability, references simple structures and ad hoc processes that come out of the human need for shelter. Proceeding from the need for physical protection from hostile environments, various techniques and technologies - inventions engendered by need - have been employed to clarify formal and conceptual concerns about housing. The provisional architectures represented have been constructed - as in vernacular architecture - by employing materials that are readily available or that come easily to hand. Rather than using conventional construction techniques and durable materials, however, the structures were erected by way of sewing, weaving, textiles, and recycled materials. The resultant objects remain vulnerable and fragile in potentially dangerous circumstances.

Beginning in a small informal collective of Mapuche women weavers in Puerto Saavedra, Chile, I explore how ecological knowledge has survived through textile handcraft, passed down from mother to daughter . Through analysis of interviews and observations with the women as weavers , I reflect on the importance of centering Indigenous women's knowledge, systematically excluded from the environmental cannon. The weavers maintain and shape traditions that have survived colonization and its disruption of Indigenous access to land and ways of living. They produce and transmit environmental knowledge on which they depend for subsistence and cultural expression. Using ecofeminism as a framework, I argue that the Mapuche women weavers' knowledge is counternarrative and expert knowledge. Through these stories told by hand and through oral story-telling it becomes clear that it is not enough to simply celebrate their beautiful craft and sustainable ways of interacting with the more-than-human environment; it is essential, also, to engage in activist work towards environmental and social justice.

The research described in this thesis investigated a range of techniques for the in situ polymerisation of thiophene-based intrinsically conductive polymers (ICPs) on textile substrates. Following a review of the literature, three potentially useful techniques were identified; a simple aqueous technique; a vapour phase technique; and a two-stage impregnation technique. The literature also indicated that thiophene-based ICPs were likely to be more durable than those prepared from other precursors. The aqueous technique proved unsuccessful, but both the vapour and two-stage impregnation techniques were used to prepare textile-ICP composites using 2,2'-bithiophene and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT). Polymerisation was effected by chemical oxidation of the precursor, with iron (III) salts being the best oxidants. The main drawbacks of the vapour system were the long vapour exposure times (e.g. several days) and/or elevated temperatures required to polymerise these relatively unreactive precursors. Two-stage impregnation was somewhat messy and inefficient, so a novel refinement of the technique (referred to as 'single dip') was developed. With this system, the specimen was impregnated with both precursor and oxidant from a single solution, then removed from the solution and the solvent allowed to evaporate. It was only at this stage that polymerisation occurred, and when more reactive ICP precursors (such as pyrrole) were used, polymerisation tended to occur in solution, and was less effective. The influence of various treatment parameters was established, while tests confirmed that the deposited ICP layer had no detrimental effect on the desirable fabric properties of flexibility and strength. Composites with surface resistance as low as 65 Ω/square were prepared with less than 6% ICP load on the textile (perchlorate-doped poly(EDOT)). The durability of poly(EDOT) composites was far better than polypyrrole under ageing in ambient conditions, accelerated ageing at elevated temperatures, and when given a treatment that simulated laundering. Finally, a scheme for continuously depositing ICPs onto textiles by this approach was designed, as a way of demonstrating the potential for scale-up of the system.

Thèse (M.A.) -- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 2007. / La p. de t. porte en outre: Communication accompagnant l'oeuvre présentée à l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi comme exigence partielle de la maîtrise en art. CaQQUQ Bibliogr.: f. [60]-61. Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQQUQ

Th.--Art et archéologie--Paris 4, 1991. Titre de soutenance : Catalogue raisonné des tissus coptes du Musée des thermes et de l'Hôtel de Cluny : tissus de lin et de laine. / Bibliogr. p. 378-393.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Central Florida, 2008. / Adviser: Michael Sigman. Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-147).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1967. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Akad. avhandling--Umeå, 1991.