Barista in the City

Barista in the City examines the impact of paid employment and the contemporary neoliberal context on the subcultural lives of hipsters who are employed as baristas.

Geoffrey Moss is a full-time Professor of Instruction in Sociology at Temple University. He previously published two books, Artistic Enclaves in the Post-Industrial City: A Case Study of Lawrenceville Pittsburgh (2017) and Contemporary Bohemia: A Case Study of an Artistic Community in Philadelphia (2019). The later book was co-authored with Keith McIntosh and Rachel Wildfeuer. He has also published articles in the Journal of Criminal Justice, Economic and Industrial Democracy, and School Organization. Keith McIntosh recently received his Ph.D from the Department of Sociology at Temple University. He previously co-authored a book with Geoffrey Moss and Rachel Wildfeuer, Contemporary Bohemia: A Case Study of an Artistic Community in Philadelphia (2019). His (2021) dissertation investigated a gentrifying community in Philadelphia, and covered the role of the Church, race, and class in shaping relationships between gentrifiers and long-time residents. Ewa Protasiuk is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at Temple University. She has presented her work at the American Sociological Association and Eastern Sociological Society annual conferences. She is currently writing a dissertation about work, inequality, and the pandemic within Philadelphia restaurants.

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Specialty Coffee Shops and the Job of the Barista Chapter 3: Why They Work as Baristas Chapter 4: Class Chapter 5: A Taste for Inclusion? Racial and Gender Inequality in a Hip, Low-Wage Service Job Chapter 6: Baristas as Residential Gentrifiers Chapter 7: Coffee Shops as Agents of Commercial Gentrification: Views of Coffee Shop Owners, Managers, and Baristas Chapter 8: Conclusion