The book is a study of khadi, the fabric that successfully transcended its commodity status to become a political symbol. Using a fresh approach, it shows how an idea, determinedly pursued, can become a movement. Khadi acquired emblematic status during India's freedom struggle. Gandhi saw khadi as heralding real freedom to the millions of poor and marginalised Indians. Recreating a parallel history of the khadi movement alongside that of India's freedom struggle, the author argues that khadi's core semiotic lay in its being a commodity of resistance against colonial exploitation.