| Summary: | This article follows the production of artisanal textiles (seeds, fibres, threads and cloth) and its various actors, offering a micro-historic study of the textile industry in Dendi (North Benin), from the end of the 19th century to the mid-20th century. This limited chronological framework differs from other studies devoted to the history of Gossypium sp. which explore their genomic evolution or the diffusion of textile techniques over several centuries. This article follows a different approach, going way beyond the materiality of “cotton” alone: an intimate and social history is woven in and around the object “cotton”. Its study informs us on the construction of feminine identity and the socio-historical trajectory of the industry’s actors, while shedding light on the major changes which have recently taken place in the region.
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