“The Future of the Persian Carpet”, Oriental Rug Review 16:1, 38-41, 1995. (original) (raw)

International organizations and the question of child labor in the Iranian carpet industry

Labor History, 2024

This article examines child labor in the Iranian carpet industry, from around 1890 to 1930. During this period, child labor was shaped by a combination of local and global factors, including the involvement of international organizations of various kinds. Whereas European carpet firms, under the protection of British diplomats in Iran, employed and exploited Iranian children, British missionaries attempted to alleviate the physical harm that befell child laborers and treated them in missionary hospitals. In the years following the First World War, the International Labour Organization approached the Iranian government with a direct request to curb the practice, and British diplomats supervised and reported on what they saw as an improvement in the working conditions of these children. I argue that both child labor and the attempts to curb it were intrinsically linked to children's bodies-their abilities, health, and protection. Children's supple fingers were considered ideal for carpet knotting, and the damage this labor caused young bodies was central to the discourse on improving their labor conditions. This article uses the lens of childhood history to shed light on some of the intricacies of the attempts to regulate child labor in Iran and to analyze Western observers' views on this issue.

A rapid assessment of bonded labour in the carpet industry of Pakistan

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2004

This study is part of a series of studies commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to identify the incidence and nature of bonded labour in different sectors of the economy in Pakistan. This report focuses on bonded labour in the carpet sector. Its findings are based on information from primary and secondary sources using both qualitative and quantitative survey techniques. The carpet sector is one of the most important industries in Pakistan, providing jobs to million of people. Due to the industry's great potential to absorb labour and the availability of an abundant labour supply, the risk of exploitation is high. Information about bonded labour in the carpet industry is limited. This study was designed to reveal the existing social and economic relationship between employers and employees and to identify issues pertaining to bonded labour in Pakistan. In the process, an attempt was made to gauge the magnitude of bonded labour in the carpet industry. The study covers four provinces of the country, i.e., Punjab, NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan, and the analysis drew on terms of reference and consultations with ILO representatives. The report is organized in the following manner: Chapter Two reviews the carpet sector. Chapters Three, Four, Five, and Six present the objectives, methodology, sample coverage, and difficulties encountered, respectively. Chapters Seven to Eleven discuss the production process, hazards in carpetweaving, the carpet-weavers themselves, labour arrangements and working conditions, respectively. Chapters Twelve to Fourteen discuss entry in the carpet industry, terms and conditions, and characteristics of the main players, respectively. Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen investigate the system of advance and prevalence of bondage in the carpet industry, respectively. The final chapter presents policy recommendations. Chapter Two: A BROAD OVERVIEW Carpet weaving flourished during Moghal rule (16th to 19th century), after Emperor Akbar (1556 A.D. to 1605 A.D) brought Persian carpet weavers to India and settled them in Lahore. Under Moghal patronage, the carpet industry spread to other areas of India, including Agra and Delhi. The patterns and designs of carpets and rugs produced in Pakistan blend local and Persian and Turkish designs famous for their intricate and beautiful patterns 4. This blend has given a unique look to Pakistani carpets which are today demanded all over the world.

The Islamic Philosophy of Labor and Crafts: The View of the Ikhwan

The purpose of this essay is to compare the views of the Ikhwan al-Safa', Isfahani, and Ibn Khaldun on labor, not to trace their influences, which would require separate treatment. However, we could presume the direct or indirect influence of figures such as the Ikhwan al-Safa'. A study into the attitudes toward labor is important for understanding a society's economic rise or decline.

“Islam and Labor Law: Some Precepts and Examples”

Labor law officially defines relationships between employers and employees and the formal constraints under which each group operates, such as how much leeway managers have in hiring and firing employees, and how much freedom workers have to organize collectively. These relations are at the core of the productive processes that sustain society. Further, through the presence or absence of specific codes regulating the employment of women and children, labor legislation provides clues to the economic underpinnings of gender and family relations within a country. In reality, the codes may not be fully enforced, or may be enforced selectively by sector or firm size. By the same token, certain unmodified "laws" may operate in practice. However, the formal legislation serves as an indication of the image a government seeks to project to its own citizens and to the international community. This paper explores the range of ways in which Islamists define the capital-labor relationship, how those interpretations have influenced the prevailing labor legislation in countries ruled by explicitly “Islamic” regimes, and what influence Islamist movements might have on labor law in predominantly Muslim countries where secular governments now rule.

The Effects of International Trade on Gender Inequality: Women Carpet Weavers of Iran

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

The process of economic globalization has winners and losers. Iran's carpet industry provides a good illustration of the adverse side of this process. As the production costs of its rivals have fallen, surging international trade has reduced the market share of Iran's labor-intensive products, especially Persian carpets. This paper reports the findings of an informal survey of carpet weavers conducted in and around the Iranian city of Kashan, showing how harsh international competition has reduced the weavers' real wages and restructured the labor force of the industry in Iran. Middle-income families have left the industry, and poor Afghan immigrant householders and their children are increasingly taking the place of Iranian weavers. Furthermore, weaving is consistent with the subordinate position of women carpet weavers within the household; as a form of employment, it has hardly affected the social status quo.

Domestic Labor in the Gulf Countries

Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 2009

This article looks at domestic labor migration to the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. 1 It reflects a feminization of the occupation and the domination of Asian migrant women in this sector. The article argues that despite the high demand for Asian domestic workers and the increasing dependence on them in the Gulf countries for many years, they are still perceived as 'others', excluded from labor laws and thus rendered more susceptible to exploitation and various abuses. Efforts made by both the sending (Asia) and receiving countries (Gulf countries) towards adopting national laws and policies that protect domestic Asian migrant's rights are reviewed. The article will end by giving brief recommendations to minimize the suffering of those migrants.

Child labour: Islamic perspective / Abu Talib Mohammad Monawer and Dewan Mahboob Hossain

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Pulau Pinang & Pusat Penerbitan Universiti (UPENA), 2016

Pinang for their support, commitment and expertise in making this issue published on time. In this issue, we have received overwhelming support from authors of various UiTM branches and likewise from other local and international universities. Eight articles from the field of social sciences were successfully published after undergoing through screening and reviewing processes. It is our hope that robust reviews and feedback communicated to the authors can enhance and promote academic research and writing quality. It is also our editorial board's aim to make such publication a platform for these budding researchers and academicians.

CHILD LABOUR: ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

The issue of child labour got immense importance from the people around the world. Many researchers have highlighted the negative effects of hazardous child labour. However, it is also true that child labour is a common phenomenon in the developing as well as underdeveloped countries where poor families send their children to work for the economic sustenance. This article is an attempt to understand whether child labour is acceptable in the eyes of a religion – Islam. This conceptual paper makes an attempt to find solution of this ethical dilemma by analysing Islamic teachings derived from the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the comments of the Islamic scholars, and several historical evidences such as the case of the Prophet's young companion-Anas and the case of fetus in uterus of Ghamidiyyah-the adulteress women. From the context of the economic conditions of citizens from poor Islamic countries, the issue of child labour arises as an ethical dilemma. This paper makes an attempt to provide a solution in the light of Islamic teachings. The paper concludes that Islam allows child labour that is not hazardous and unethical. In order to eliminate hazardous child labour, initiatives should be taken from four levels: individual level, family level, employment level, and state level.