Chapter 4 – Coffee

Chapter Summary

This chapter explores how our consumer tastes connect to our social class. We discuss how visible and demonstrative consumption habits—conspicuous consumption—distinguish some groups from others. We also identify the differences between Bourdieu’s concepts of economic, cultural, and social capital. The case of coffee, and coffee shops more specifically, is used to examine the sociological concepts of public space and third place. Finally, we explain coffee’s connection to globalized commodity chains and describe how a $5 cappuccino is connected to poverty and hardship for coffee growers and laborers.

Further Reading

Fischer, Edward F. 2021. “Quality and inequality: creating value worlds with Third Wave coffee.” Socio-Economic Review 19(1):111-131.

The article focuses on the burgeoning high-end (‘Third Wave’) coffee market in the USA and examines how economic gains are extracted by translating values across symbolic and material worlds. It explores how roasters, baristas, and marketers have developed a new lexicon of quality for coffee, tied to narratives of provenance and exclusivity, which creates much of the value added in the Third Wave market. The article also highlights how this disadvantages smallholding coffee farmers, particularly Maya farmers in Guatemala, who lack the social and cultural capital needed to extract surplus symbolic value from their crops, perpetuating classic dependency patterns of global capital accumulation.

Bookman, Sonia. 2013. “Coffee Brands, Class and Culture in a Canadian City.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 16(4):405–423.

Bookman’s article explores how coffee brands in Canada, particularly Tim Hortons, Starbucks, and Second Cup, shape and reflect social class distinctions. Using qualitative data from interviews, she examines how these brands offer consumers distinct experiences that reinforce notions of class, such as cosmopolitanism versus Canadianness and connoisseurship versus “ordinary” consumption. Consumers use these brands not only as markers of class identity but also as tools to actively perform class distinctions. The study demonstrates that everyday consumer choices play a central role in shaping and expressing social class boundaries.

Trigg, Andrew B. 2001. “Veblen, Bourdieu, and Conspicuous Consumption.” Journal of Economic Issues 35(1):99–115. doi: 10.1080/00213624.2001.11506342.

This article offers an accessible comparison of Thorstein Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption and Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital. Veblen’s theory focuses on how individuals emulate the consumption patterns of higher social classes to signal their status. Critics argue that this view is limited, emphasizing a one-way “trickle-down” effect. In contrast, Bourdieu shows how consumption patterns flow both up and down the social ladder, allowing for a more flexible analysis of consumption and social hierarchy.

Quizzes

Test your knowledge with the Chapter 4 quizzes!

Quiz

1. 

According to Bourdieu, which of the following types of capital will you earn when you complete your degree?

Certified social capital

Embodied cultural capital

Objectified cultural capital

Institutionalized cultural capital

None

2. 

Pierre Bourdieu argued that cultural capital transmits class advantages, even without being consciously recognized.

TRUE

FALSE

None

3. 

Jeremy uses Starbucks as a space outside the home to get work done. This supports the idea that Starbucks is a third place.

FALSE

TRUE

None

4. 

What did Veblen suggest happens when lower classes begin to emulate the conspicuous consumption of the wealthy?

It leads to greater economic equality

Social mobility becomes easier

The wealthy find new ways to distinguish themselves through even more exclusive consumption practices

It creates a trickle-down effect where everyone benefits

None

5. 

Which of the following is a key strength of survey research, relative to other methods, when it is done well?

It is cheap to conduct.

Its results can be generalized to a wider population.

It is a good source of qualitative data.

It provides a detailed description of everyday experiences.

None

6. 

Fair-trade coffee ensures that coffee producers in the Global South receive a large percentage of the profits from coffee sold in the Global North.

TRUE

FALSE

None

7. 

Starbucks’ founder has stated that the chain deliberately creates “third spaces.” According to sociological research, is this true?

Yes, because the staff encourage sociability.

Yes, because its products are affordable to everyone.

No, because talking to strangers is a violation of a perceived norm.

No, because its products are so expensive that they make it elitist.

None

8. 

Where is most of the world’s coffee produced?

The Global South

On corporate plantations in Mexico

On cooperative plantations in China

The Global North

None

9. 

The concept of ________ refers to deliberately purchasing products from companies that engage in ethical practices, such as fair-trade certification.

Please select your answer buycotting boycotting

10. 

Juliet Schor describes ________ as the phenomenon where people aspire to consume like celebrities, leading to increased spending on luxury goods.

Please select your answer conspicuous consumption new consumerism

11. 

Thorstein Veblen coined the term ________ to describe how people purchase high-status items to display their wealth and social superiority.

Please select your answer upscale emulation conspicuous consumption

12. 

Social capital only refers to formal relationships, such as business connections, and does not include friendships or informal networks.

TRUE

FALSE

None

13. 

Which of the following is an example of “buycotting” in the context of coffee consumption?

Buying cheaper coffee instead of expensive brands

Boycotting companies that use unethical practices

Buying fair-trade products to support ethical consumption

Refusing to purchase mass-market coffee products

None

14. 

An example of ________ cultural capital is knowing how to appreciate fine art or the ability to speak eloquently.

Please select your answer embodied objectified

15. 

What type of cultural capital involves valorized forms of self-presentation, like ways of speaking and bodily comportment?

Institutionalized cultural capital

Social capital

Embodied cultural capital

Objectified cultural capital

None

16. 

According to sociological studies, brands like Starbucks are often associated with higher status and sophistication, while other coffee chains, such as Dunkin Donuts or Tim Horton’s, are viewed as more practical.

FALSE

TRUE

None

17. 

How does cultural capital differ from economic capital?

Economic capital is more important in the job market than cultural capital

Cultural capital relies on internalized knowledge and skills

Cultural capital is passed down through wealth alone

Cultural capital cannot be converted into social status

None

18. 

Fair-trade certification aims to help coffee farmers by guaranteeing

A price premium that ensures a decent standard of living

Full control over the coffee production chain

A minimum wage for all coffee workers

Higher profit margins for coffee companies

None

19. 

Which of the following best describes how cultural capital is transmitted within families?

Parents expose their children to high-status cultural activities, like piano lessons and museum visits

Children inherit their parents’ social networks

Parents provide financial support for their children

Families with low income pass on their work ethics to children

None

20. 

Which of the following best describes the role of third places in fostering democracy, according to some sociologists?

They provide venues for the elite to meet and discuss policies

They offer spaces for people from different backgrounds to meet and exchange ideas

They allow people to work privately and independently

They are places where political campaigns are held

None

21. 

The coffee paradox" described in the chapter highlights the discrepancy between the rising demand and high prices for coffee in the Global North and the low wages received by coffee farmers in the Global South."

TRUE

FALSE

None

22. 

Which sociologist’s work helps explain how cultural tastes reflect and reinforce social inequality?

Emile Durkheim

Pierre Bourdieu

Ray Oldenburg

Karl Marx

None

23. 

One critique of the fair-trade system is that it can benefit large coffee plantations over small independent farmers.

FALSE

TRUE

None

24. 

________ refers to the value of one's social networks and relationships, which can provide opportunities and advantages in society.

Please select your answer Social capital Cultural capital

25. 

Thorstein Veblen coined the term conspicuous consumption" to describe how people purchase high-status items to display wealth and social superiority."

FALSE

TRUE

None

Time’s up

Active Learning – Further Online Resources

$7 coffee?

Watch this Jimmy Kimmel clip about the introduction of a $7 cup of coffee at Starbucks. How do the people drinking the coffee display their social status as they experience the coffee? Did the ending of the video surprise you? If so, why? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxlGI4OzeBk

Fair trade, ethical consumption, and corporate public relations:

Look at the website, http://fairworldproject.org/ which seeks to protect the fair-trade label from being diluted, misrepresented, and misused. Now look at the website of a major corporate coffee or chocolate producer (e.g. Hershey’s or Starbucks). Can you identify what strategies they use to promote themselves as a socially responsible corporation? What claims seem substantiated, and what claims seem more ornamental?

The significance of your coffee order?

Watch this clip from the Tom Hanks movie, “You’ve Got Mail”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ7lFV9Z2hk. In it, Tom Hanks’s character delivers the following pronouncement: “The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short. Tall. Light. Dark. Caf. Decaf. Low-fat. Non-fat. Etc. So for people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing, or who on earth they are, can, for $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee, but an absolute defining sense of self.” Do you agree? Disagree? Does something as seemingly mundane as a coffee order provide people with a defining sense of self? How has the link between coffee and identity changed since this movie came out in 1998?

Blood, Sweat, and Luxuries:

Watch this documentary from YouTube channel Only Human, in which three British consumers embark on a journey to work on the coffee plantations of Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSjD8QFSl7Y. How does seeing the living and working conditions on Ethiopian coffee plantations affect your view of coffee as a consumer? What global inequalities are hidden behind our everyday coffee consumption?

Flashcards

Refresh your knowledge of key terms with this chapter’s flashcards.