Bouncers, Door Policies, and Embedded Diversity

Abstract

Thinking about belonging also means thinking about exclusion, and so we should consider how such exclusions are institutionalized. This chapter profiles the practices of the door staff at Berliner nightclubs, examining how these local leisure institutions may be informed by their broader political contexts. In particular, the author examines the ways in which certain aspects of subcultural “selection” at these nightclubs (especially around race and gender) bear an uncanny resemblance to national and European debates regarding immigration and multiculturalism. Drawing on examples of exclusion at nightclubs in Berlin, the author suggests that these nightclubs cultivate embedded diversity, that is, a kind of curated diversity that problematically excludes certain “unintegrated” forms of difference, thus presenting a happier and more harmonious image of diversity.