Reading for economic difference

![CDATA[This chapter discusses reading as a practice of knowledge production, contrasting that produced by reading for economic difference with that of the critical project of reading for capitalist dominance. It demonstrates how reading for economic difference makes subordinated economic identities and activities more visible, allowing for the possibility that they have independent agency. Deconstruction, queering and thick description are deployed to highlight the radical heterogeneity of economic identities, relationships and trajectories. Reading for difference has the effect of transforming the nature of economic identity and dynamics from a structural imperative to an open-ended empirical question. This allows for a different imaginary in which economic possibility proliferates. The practice of reading for difference thus situates the researcher in a responsible position with respect to what stories are told. The chapter illustrates these points with examples of reading households, places and policies for economic difference.]]