Article -- Urban Markets and Diversity

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.

Hiebert, D., J. Rath and S. Vertovec (2014) Urban Markets and Diversity: Toward a Research Agenda. Ethnic and Racial Studies.
DOI:10.1080/01419870.2014.953969

For a slightly extended version:
Hiebert, D., J. Rath and S. Vertovec (2014) Urban Markets and Diversity: Toward a Research Agenda.
Göttingen: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity.
Working Papers WP 14-06, July 2014
ISSN 2192-2357 (MMG Working Papers Print)