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Based on 18 months of fieldwork this thesis focuses on work, life and migration in a Muslim wood crafting community of Saharanpur (North India). Drawing on ethnographic and other material regarding Indian Muslims, artisans, informal economies and ‘informality' more broadly, the thesis addresses four primary questions: What does it mean to work in an economic space where moves towards labour informality, as played out in post-liberalisation economies globally, have always been the primary means of organisation? Are workers in such spaces better equipped to deal with informality? Where state regulation has always been partial, what regulates everyday economic activity? Are these spaces isolated, in decline and increasingly marginalised, or are they highly connected and central to contemporary capitalism? In this context the thesis follows the lives and stories of craft workers across a variety of ‘niches of production' which are defined through religious, gender-based and affective factors. The thesis utilises ‘informality', not just to understand work and conditions of employment, but also networks, connections, niches and spaces of production and exchange. It begins with the history of a community and industry that has been shaped by the colonial experience, the upheavals of partition, political changes and economic liberalisation. The thesis explores the complexities of a supply chain filled with ambiguous actors and the connections and networks within which craft workers operate. It traces the influence of Islam and explores connections of religion and friendship. It follows pathways of migration across the country and to the Gulf. Whilst playing out within a gendered and stratified social fabric within which production is embedded, the long experience of operating under conditions of informality has given workers in Saharanpur certain attributes useful in negotiating the economic terrain. However, it also makes them accepting of these conditions. Connections, built on Muslim and other networks, enables workers to retain a high degree of geographical mobility. Whilst there are very specific constraints emanating from their Muslim identity, these networks create certain possibilities for connecting with other people and places. Carefully cultivated links of community, neighbourhood and friendship provide an important resource through which work can be found and mutual support provided. Yet there is a duality present throughout, with these same networks simultaneously acting as a means of incorporation into chains of supply. Against this complex backdrop the thesis explores the ways in which workers engage with networks, connections, niches and spaces of production and exchange. It considers the constraints and potentialities therein. It makes its original contribution to knowledge on two counts. Firstly, and primarily, it provides an empirical contribution by providing a thickly descriptive account of lives in an industry which has received little ethnographic attention. Secondly, it utilises circulatory understandings of the production of capitalism to show how spaces such as Saharanpur's wood industry are not marginal but form an important part of the way capitalism works and how such spaces have played a role in shaping global processes of labour force informalisation.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 1929. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-74). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

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What does sustainability mean with respect to furniture design and fabrication? How has technology - created and subsequently clouded - opportunities for new thinking? This body of work explores these broader questions and, more specifically, the efficiencies of bending wood. Historical precedents will guide a distillation of established bentwood technologies, which in turn will generate a more sustainable operation. The framework of this operation revolves around a minimalist approach to design coupled with an increased focus on product longevity - the paramount sustainable attribute. Additionally, an investigation of suitable alternatives to the most common - and highly toxic - adhesives is necessary. Beyond secondary research the primary research will utilize small-scale models to minimize material waste while examining the appropriateness of new processes. These studies will emulate the sculptural plywood experiments of Alvar Aalto and Charles and Ray Eames. The final manufacturing process will make use of these study models with the intent of generating a modular system of interchangeable formwork to customize sustainably produced pieces. Final deliverables include the tangible studies along with full-scale designs utilizing modular formwork and a research component documenting the potential for a more comprehensive definition of sustainability with regards to furniture. / Master of Science

This study is to assemble the available information from the various sources pertaining to the habitat, properties, physical characteristics, uses, and supply of the hardwoods and softwoods available to industry and to industrial arts shops, and to determine the various types used for projects in the industrial arts shops.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Teacherss College, Columbia University, 1971. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: William J. Mahoney. Dissertation Committee: Joseph G. Shannon. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-107).

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PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was twofold: 1. To select and develop two laboratory approaches for teaching basic woodworking technology to students in agricultural mechanics. 2. To compare student performances of the two laboratory approaches both on the college level and on the high school level. PROCEDURES: The development phase of this study involved the selection and preparation of desired student behavioral outcomes, curriculum, content and materials, two laboratory teaching methods, and student performance measuring instruments for basic woodworking technology. One trial comparison experiment was conducted on the college level with two matched groups of juniors enrolled in agricultural mechanics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Each group consisted of eight students. One experiment was conducted on the high school level with two matched groups, each consisting of six high school sophomores. The project-oriented laboratory teaching method was selected for use by the control groups of each experiment. The method used by the experimental groups in both experiments was the "timed-learning experience laboratory method." This method was developed by the writer. CONCLUSIONS: The following conclusions were formulated from the data collected in the experiments: 1. In the college experiment the students taught by the "timed-learning experience laboratory method" had a greater average percentage of gain on both the written and the laboratory test than the students taught by the project-oriented method. 2. In the high school experiment the students taught by the "timed-learning experience laboratory method” had a greater average percentage of gain on both the writtten and the laboratory test than the students taught by the project oriented method. / M.S.