Describe in brief the way the Swadeshi Movement was linked to the politics of clothing.

The Swadeshi Movement was linked to the politics of clothing in the following ways:
(i) Condition of India at the time of coming of the British: Indian textiles were in great demand all over the world. Indian goods accounted for one-fourth of the world’s manufactured goods in the 17th century. There were a million weavers in Bengal alone.
(ii) Industrial Revolution and its effects: The Industrial Revolution in England increased the demand for raw materials such as indigo and cotton. This changed the position in favour of England because Indian peasants were forced to grow crops such as indigo, and cheap British cloth easily replaced career Indian cloth. Unemployment increased and textile weaving centres at Murshidabad, Machilipatnam and Surat declined,
(iii) Lord Curzon and partition of Bengal: In 1906, when Land Curzon decided to partition Bengal to control the growing opposition to British rule, the people opposed it by Swadeshi Movement. Various activities such as boycotts of British goods, start of their own industries, mass protests were staged on by the people. They were encouraged to use khadi as a patriotic duty.
(iv) Conclusion : Thus the people were urged to change their dress. However, this appeal was followed by the upper castes and classes and not by the poor who could not afford to buy khadi. But despite its limitations, the experiment with Swadeshi gave Mahatma Gandhi important ideas about using cloth as a symbolic weapon against Britieh rule.