Doing Difference: The Performance of Order in the Market for Islamic Fashion in Berlin

Abstract

When it comes to the analysis of markets, difference has been described as a tool for competition and for carving out specific target groups. Once it is taken as factual, the significance of difference for market processes is undoubted. Taking a practice theoretical perspective at the market for Islamic fashion in Berlin, this paper explores what comes before. It intends to investigate not only the effects of difference but also its performance. Investigating how difference is accomplished by entrepreneurs as active agents of the market will also shed light on the societal surroundings of the market and the ways in which it is embedded in its sociocultural and discursive environment, hence highlighting the significance of its context for economic action, and vice versa.

Citation

Birnbauer, R. (2021), "Doing Difference: The Performance of Order in the Market for Islamic Fashion in Berlin", Wood, D.C. (Ed.) Infrastructure, Morality, Food and Clothing, and New Developments in Latin America (Research in Economic Anthropology, Vol. 41), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 163-184. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0190-128120210000041008