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Paper Short Abstract:

Foregrounding workers’ views on labour uncertainty in an extremely localised textile industry, this paper suggests how ethnographic attention to connections between work and place can reveal overlooked forms of belonging and place-making, unsettling expectations about provenance and rootedness.

Paper Abstract:

The famous woollen textile known as Harris Tweed has been trademark-protected since 1910 and covered by its own Act of Parliament since 1993. According to this legislation, a cloth can only be stamped as Harris Tweed if it ‘has been handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides’ (Harris Tweed Act 1993:6).

Despite this extremely localised production, the cloth is exported to over 50 countries around the world – providing employment in a region threatened by depopulation and economic fragility, but also exposing islanders to the vagaries of shifting global markets. And while popular representations emphasise the ‘provenance’ and ‘heritage’ of Harris Tweed, a closer look reveals that the industry is more inclusive than might be expected – welcoming not only ‘locals’ and ‘returners’, but also ‘incomers’ to the islands as valued employees.

In this paper, I suggest that ethnographic attention to workers’ outlooks on ‘local’ uncertainty contributes to thinking critically about the relationship between work and place, uncovering social dynamics that might otherwise be overlooked. Drawing on thirteen months of fieldwork, I consider how industry workers drew on local histories and repertoires to navigate labour uncertainty and ‘island life’ – whether they were locals, returners or incomers. These insights suggest alternative possibilities for thinking about rootedness, belonging and place-making, and foreground how ethnographic attention to work-place dynamics can illuminate diverse experiences of work and life in contemporary capitalism.