Between Survival and Sustainability: How Small Textile Enterprises Navigate Environmental and Economic Pressures in India's Ganges Basin

Small and medium-sized textile enterprises (SMEs) in Varanasi and Kanpur navigate competing institutional pressures as they seek to reduce contributions to Ganges River pollution while sustaining economic viability within global supply chains. Drawing on phenomenological interviews with 20 textile entrepreneurs, this study illuminates the lived experience of reconciling environmental responsibility with economic survival.Three central tensions emerged through interpretive analysis: the hybridization of traditional craft knowledge with modern green technologies amid resource constraints; the conflict between global market demands for low-cost, rapid production and local sustainability commitments; and the challenge of operating within fragmented regulatory environments characterized by outdated infrastructure and policy uncertainty. The analysis suggests that SMEs employ situated bricolage strategies, combining traditional practices, incremental technological adoption, and informal collective action to navigate institutional voids. This interpretive engagement contributes to sustainability transitions literature by illuminating how bottom-up transitions in resource-constrained contexts require creative recombination of cultural, economic, and environmental logics rather than solely technological innovation. The findings advance understanding of how micro-level actors make sense of and respond to macro-level institutional contradictions, particularly when formal regulatory support remains weak and market pressures intense. Practical implications suggest that effective environmental governance in textile industries may require policy frameworks recognizing SME heterogeneity, providing differentiated financial mechanisms, and bridging disconnects between global sustainability standards and local production realities. Received: 20 January 2026 / Accepted: 28 February 2026 / Published: March 2026