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Free keywords:
Category dynamics, self-categorization, self-identity, power, morality,
moral market, framing
Abstract:
»Bleibt Grün das neue Schwarz? Veränderungen in der Selbstkategorisierung
von Ethical Fashion Designern«. Research on categorization and category
dynamics has been rather silent on the role of powerful third parties in
the self-categorization of producers. This study sheds light on this question by
analyzing dynamics in the self-categorization of designers in the British ethical
fashion movement. Their task of self-categorization is particularly complex in a
context in which conflicts between aesthetics, morality and the economy still
persist. Most of them enter the field as activists. Over time, however, designers
stress their moral ideals less in their self-categorization, but put more emphasis
on business-related values. Some even switch their self-identities from that of
activists or moralists towards identifying as entrepreneurs. In this article, I argue
that the designers’ dependency relations to a powerful audience member
allow us to better understand these dynamics in self-categorization.
