Cultural Embeddedness of Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs in Jaipur
Résumé
This chapter examines the manufacture and sale of precious and semi-precious gemstones and jewellery in Jaipur, a city located about 350 km south of Delhi, known for these activities that are intrinsically part of the local culture. Using qualitative methodology for studying the cultural environment in which different actors involved operate, the research analyses the important changes experienced in this economic sector during the last three decades: the passage from a specialised craft in the cutting and polishing of gems, organised by specific merchant communities, to a largely industrial manufacturing intended for the Western markets. The study demonstrates that despite the changes, the activity in the city is rising because of the presence within the city of other activities like a ready-made garment, tourism, and IT, whose actors, whether rich or poor, also share the common values of the local society. Even if the economic hierarchies established between the different communities and families in Jaipur have been altered, all of them have kept their specific identities which continue to organise relationships inside and between.