Formas de abastecimiento de materias primas en el sistema textil artesanal y estrategias de reproducción social entre artesanas de la estepa patagónica

Abstract

With the focus on the craft textile production in Patagonia, and from an ethnographic description, we will study the supply routes of raw materials (wool fleeces) for manual fiber spinning, from a group of artisans associated with the Mercado de la Estepa, in the rural area of the Province of Río Negro, Argentina. Although the Patagonian territory is characterized by a large number of sheep, and Argentina is one of the main wool regions of the world, the orientation of the fiber market towards exports limits access to inputs in craft textile production. In this context, those who dedicate themselves to this task, as a complement to their family income, must implement various reproductive strategies, individual and collective, mediated and stressed by various reciprocities, in order to ensure access to certain resources. Specifically, we will analyze the limitations around the conservation of creole sheeps and access to their fiber, taking the case of the sheep locally called Linca.