Constructing and Representing the Islamist Consumer: Transformation of the Fashion Market in Turkey

Abstract

While there is a wealth of literature dealing with the nature and politics of stereotypical representations in advertising, there is little on how stereotypes are created and transformed as a result of social, cultural, political and economic factors. This ethnographic study looks at how marketers in Turkey construct and represent the Islamist women in advertising and other commercial imagery, what assumptions are embodied in these representations, and how these representations and the market agents themselves are transformed as a result of the local and global forces of consumerism and capitalism.

Keywords: fashion, consumption, advertising, Islam, Turkey

JEL Classification: M30, M31, M37, M39