an association between diversity and exoticism

Focusing on contemporary Iranian artists and intellectuals, I examine the creation of collective identifications from an internal perspective. Drawing on research on migrant associations and ethnic and racial boundaries in Germany, the ethnographic account alternates between internal relations, member's participation in the transnational field of Iranian artists, and representative activities in the German public sphere. It explains how the members' unequal resources and varying politics of value caused a shift in the association's system of value. From a critique of assimilationism and the promotion of the value of diversity, the group came to largely comply with the system of value prevailing in the German public sphere, sustained by its intersection with the one that shapes the transnational social field of Iranian artists

Introduction

This chapter introduces the theoretical framework of the volume looking at the concepts of identity and culture broadly speaking and placing them within the context of the Arabian Gulf. The introduction interrogates the scope of the khaleeji versus national cultures of these, mostly young, statehood creations. Furthermore, the chapter describes the social, political, and economic trends in the twenty-first century that help explain the rapid pace of change. Within this context, the need of anchoring an identity of each of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states is pervasive, often operates as a state project. The search for what could constitute a continuity is nonetheless all the more elusive as various stakeholders actively create and recreate various elements of regional, national, and group identities. Yet, these transformations occur on different levels, formal and informal, planned and random. The rapidity of changes prompted by the unprecedented development of the region accounts for the fluidity of the concepts the volume describes. This chapter raises also important questions on the future trends and challenges that GCC countries face. Ultimately, the introduction provides an overview of the chapters contained in the volume presenting the linking theme between them