The social organization of difference

Rapidly diversifying societies, rising inequalities and the increasing significance of social differences are concurrent processes calling for a reexamination and reworking of certain conceptual and theoretical tools within the social sciences. Here, bringing together a range of theories and findings from various disciplines, a conceptual model is offered to facilitate analyses of such intertwined social processes. The model highlights mutually conditioning relationships between the fundamental conceptual domains of: social structures (here described as configurations), social categories (or representations) and social interactions (or encounters). The connections between these domains produce and reproduce, differentially in distinct times, scales and contexts, what can be called “the social organization of difference”

Superdiversity and social complexity

Based on a keynote lecture1, this paper places the superdiversity concept in relation to certain ideas surrounding complexity theory. Further, the implications of superdiversity for social stratification processes are stressed. Finally, with a view towards superdiversity and university environments, key features of social identity complexity theory are also related to both superdiversity and complexity theory, pointing to ways that promoting the recognition of individuals’ multiple characteristics can bring about a number of positive outcomes

Urban markets and diversity: Toward a research agenda

In this paper we advocate the study of local street markets to explore fundamental issues about the relationship between economy and society. This relationship evolves over time and we believe that it has been recast in an age of increasing cultural diversity and neoliberal state regulatory structures. In street markets we can see how diversity and the nature of economic transactions become mutually constitutive. We argue that cultural diversity propels local markets, while everyday interactions in markets influence intercultural relationships. These complex processes are affected by the spatiality of markets and the regulatory environments within which they operate. We conclude by framing a research program on street markets and discuss a number of methodological complications that would need to be addressed in this endeavour