Describe and analyse an aspect of your life which has been affected by COVID-19, using what you have learned in this unit.

Coffee and Class

W h a t y o u d r i n k i s n o t j u s t a m a t t e r o f f r e e c h o i c e

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Class and Taste

This lecture:

Connects class and taste

Shows that what we consume enables us to distinguish a class from other classes

Introduces you (briefly) to Marx’s understanding of class before focusing on Bourdieu

Argues that consumption shows us class and reinforces class inequalities

Applies this particular way of thinking to coffee and coffeeshops

Why study Class and Taste?

A focus on class and struggles over its definition helps us recognise patterns of social diversity and inequality.

We must because there is myth that class has died, and that Australia (among other countries) are class free and therefore free of inequalities

It helps us make sense of the choices we make and make us see that choices are not nearly as free as you imagine – that is, we are trying to investigate the social aspects of our tastes.

A focus on ‘taste’ and struggles over its definition helps us recognise patterns of social diversity and inequality.

How do people decide what is beautiful? On what criteria is the distinction made?

What is ‘good’ taste? What is ‘bad’ taste? Who decides?

How is taste linked to social stratification?

Is there any intrinsic quality to high culture (say, opera) over popular culture (say, X Factor)?

Sociological studies of taste

Main claims:

Cultural life is organised and stratified

Culture is a ‘sphere’ of conflict and competition as much as it is a celebration of indviduality, tradition and diversity

What is culturally valued reflects the ideology of dominant social groups

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Marxism

Class is created in the capitalist system where some (capital owners) exploit those who have nothing else to see than their labour (workers).

Capitalist extract labour power from workers.

They are able to do that because some (capitalist) owns the means of production while other don’t own anything except their labour.

Exploitation is the process of using more labour power than what workers are paid.

So two main classes – the capitalists and the workers. But also Petite Bourgeoisie and Lumpen Proletariat.

--- So… class is a form of power that comes with owning the means of production

A simple class model of society

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CAPITALISTS, SMALL BUSINESS, THE MIDDLE AND WORKING CLASS (FIGURE: WRIGHT 1997)

Capitalists (shareowners) :

own and control scarce capital.

Employ workers.

Small business

Middle class – mainly employees with valued skills and authority

in the workplace. “Rents”

Working class – much less authority and a range of formally recognised skills*

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“While class position is typically understood in sociology as determined by people’s roles as workers or producers, it has become common for sociologists to note how class

identities—that is, how people understand their own class position—are also shaped by consumption

Different classes consume differently.”

(Bauman cited in Cairns et al 2019: 83)

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Class is about power in different ways too – it

is not only about economics

(although money plays some part)

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Consumption is about power

"[W]ealth or power must be put in evidence, for esteem is awarded only on evidence.” (1899: 36)

“the consumption of . . . excellent goods is an evidence of wealth, it becomes honorific; and conversely, the failure to consume in due quantity and quality becomes a mark of inferiority and demerit” (1967: 75)

Therefore explained:

- Conspicuous consumption - Conspicuous leisure - The displacement of class conflict into cultural sphere

Theory of the Leisure Class

published 1899

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Robert Frank (2011) has coined the word “expenditure cascade” = high status consumption practices trickle down to lower classes, making them spend on consumption they cannot afford.

In a similar sentiment, Schor talks about “upscale emulation” 1998; 1999). She argues that it is not just about “keeping up with the Joneses”, but also about purchasing the goods displayed by celebrities, actors, musicians, and models— whose lives are prominently featured on television and in magazines

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Bourdieu See here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87BPL

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So what is the significance of Bourdieu when applied to class and taste?

• It is important not just to examine the economic dimension of inequality, but also its cultural and social dimensions

• class inequalities are reproduced over time through consumption habits • consumption is a key way that elites attain a kind of status or distinction • Familiarity with specific ways of eating, specific authors, music, knowledge of wines, how to eat a lobster etc

makes it difficult for lower classes to break in. • cultural tastes both reflect and reinforce social inequalities

Importantly, in everyday life these practices are just seen as ‘this is my choice’, ‘that is yours’, not as ways of ‘doing class’.

So please, next time we ask you in the tutorials “why do you eat fastfood?” or “why do you have an Iphone”, please do not just say “because I chose to” or “because I like it”. Instead, explain how power and class is linked to consumption – how it reflects social inequalities and reinforces them.

Now to Coffee

Claim: Coffee has become much more than a simple drink; it is also a way to express social status and cultural capital.

“Starbucks factor”: - traded in cultural capital - deliberately followed a Veblenian strategy of conspicuous consumption (Simon 2009: 34) - locations where high-status people live ‘barista’ and ‘tall’ not large to separate insiders from outsiders - high-status connotations for a small price - acceptable addiction

The fall of Starbucks: - Deskilling - Machine-made coffee - Teenage sugary drinks changed Starbucks from a place for connoisseurs

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Main points

Class is visible through consumption habits

Consumption creates classes

Consumption is about power

There are other ways to explain class than economic ones

There will be questions about taste and class on the final exam.

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THANK YOU!