Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The gentrification of Northampton, Massachusetts has brought considerable cultural change to the community. As class dynamics shift in the city, the hierarchy of tastes is being re-ordered. Bourdieu (1984) argues that taste is a hidden function of the class hierarchy, but in Northampton the process of gentrification sometimes allows longtime residents to recognize the connection between taste and class, resulting in conflict and resentment toward “newcomers.” Using three issues of change in Northampton, I demonstrate Bourdieu’s (1984) theory of taste as a process. The economic and cultural changes of downtown Northampton, the proliferation of panhandlers on Main Street, and the growth and visibility of the lesbian community produce a range of responses and opinions of longtime residents. As economic, cultural, and political tastes change, Northampton residents contest the re-ordering of the taste hierarchy on various levels.