single cloth

[pars]

Dear all:
What does "single cloth" mean in the following passage? It is from the book Nationalizing Iran p. 6, by Afshin Marashi.

"The state was now externally robust and internally more integrated, capable of projecting its will across society. Under the influence of the state’s new power, society itself was reimagined as a single cloth."

Thanks very much.

 

[teechar]

I suppose it's meant to contrast with "a patchwork of (disjoint/fragmented) communities".
cf. "patchwork quilt".

 

[jutfrank]

It's a common metaphor to see the connectedness and cohesiveness of a society as cloth, most commonly expressed in the phrase 'fabric of society'.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/fabric-of-society