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Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
1
How Place Shapes Taste:
The Local Formation of Middle-Class Residential Preferences in Two
Israeli Cities
Guy Shani
1
Abstract
This paper studies the preferences of middle-class residents for old or new neighborhoods
in two Israeli cities, and describes the ways local social space mediates the translation of
the habitus into generative preferences. Most sociological studies either ignore questions
of place, or explicitly reject the role of place in shaping class tastes. While a number of
recent studies have demonstrated the role of place in shaping class tastes, the mechanisms
underlying the role of place have yet to be investigated and conceptualized. This study
addresses this lacuna. Based on a mixed-methods comparative design, the paper first
presents the relationship between spatial and class processes underlying the particular
social space of each of the two cities – that is, the local association between old/new
neighborhoods and different populations, symbolic boundaries, and expectations
regarding the future of different neighborhoods. It then shows how local social space is
reflected in local narratives and patterns of distinction, which are interwoven with
residents’ accounts of their choices and preferences. The study argues that middle-class
tastes are formed locally by a process of "emplacement," in which social actors find their
socially designated place in specific urban settings and develop the tastes and dispositions
associated with these areas.
1
Corresponding author: Guy Shani, School of Behavioral Studies, The College of Management Academic Studies,
Israel. Email: gshani@gmail.com
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
2
The sociological study of class tastes and cultural consumption most commonly ignores or
explicitly rejects place’s role in shaping class tastes. While recently, the spatial organization of
consumption patterns have been demonstrated by a few studies (Cutts and Widdop, 2016; Savage et
al., 2005; Widdop and Cutts, 2012), the mechanisms through which places and local characteristics
influence class tastes have yet to be investigated and conceptualized. The tendency to overlook
place corresponds with a common treatment of tastes and dispositions as reflecting actors' socio-
economic characteristics and stemming, more or less directly, from the habitus. However, for
Bourdieu (1984, 2000) the habitus is a generative scheme and dispositions are developed in a
process of "position taking" – in interaction with specific social spaces. Since social space is located
in concrete places which are never a simple reflection of social structure (Gieryn, 2000), the role of
place in shaping class tastes should be further explored by scholars of consumption.
This paper addresses the gap in the current literature by presenting the local formation of
middle-class residential preferences in two Israeli cities. It is based on a mixed-methods study
composed of maps generated from the latest census data, interviews with first time homebuyers, and
a comparison of two distinct urban settings: Tel Aviv-Jaffa—Israel's economic and cultural center
and Beersheba — a peripheral metropolis. The paper first presents the unique association in each
city between old/new neighborhoods and different types of population, social distinctions, and
expectations regarding neighborhood socio-physical future. Exploring actors’ accounts of their
choices, the paper then shows how the cities’ local social spaces are reflected in unique meanings
and patterns of distinctions which are interwoven with interviewees’ esthetical tastes and lifestyle
considerations. Finally, attention is paid to the interaction between interviewees’ initial preferences
and local reality, demonstrating how the “fit” between social actors and their urban environment is
locally emergent and sometimes partial.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
3
Thus, this paper expands current Bourdieusian inquiry of class tastes to incorporate place
not as a reflection of social-structure but as a locally organized relational space. It suggests that the
process by which class is translated to generative scheme of tastes could be mediated by place and
reflect a process of "emplacement". A process in which social actors find their socially designated
place in specific urban settings and develop the tastes and dispositions associated with living in
these places. This novel incorporation of place into the study of taste formation allows us to better
account for two contemporary patterns – the growing alignment of class segments along spatial
lines (Hanquinet et al., 2012; Savage et al., 2005), and the appearance of a locality effect on
consumption patterns within class categories (Cutts and Widdop, 2016; Widdop and Cutts, 2012).
Cities, Suburbs, and Middle-Class Tastes
The spread of mass consumption has led some to doubt the contemporary relevance of the
ownership of old objects as a marker of elite status (Corrigan, 1997). Bourdieu (1984) has
demonstrated the continuous relevance of the distinction between old and new by shifting focus to
the ability to appreciate old objects. The latter and more generally inconspicuous consumption is a
central characteristic of fractions of the dominant classes rich in economic and cultural capital.
These fractions, commonly referred to as the new middle-class (Butler, 1997; Kaplan, 2013), are
distinct in their cultural preferences from both the economic elite and the classic bourgeoisie, the
second of which adheres to subtler but more “obvious” consumption.
A distinguishing characteristic of many members of the new middle-class is their preference
for old urban centers as opposed to the traditional middle-class preference for the suburbs with their
modern aesthetics (Butler, 1997; Zukin, 1987). This preference is a part of a broader lifestyle
emphasizing creativity (Florida, 2002) and authenticity (Méndez L, 2008; Zukin, 1989, 2009) which
are key themes in the symbolic boundary work against the “traditional middle-class” residing in the
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
4
“uniform” suburbs
2
(Bacqué et al., 2015). While aesthetical tastes are not the only factor linking the
new middle-class to old urban surroundings in current literature, the concept of cultural capital
serves as a sociological heuristic connecting class tastes, lifestyle and residential choices (e.g,.
Boterman, 2012; Bridge, 2001; Butler and Robson, 2003b; Marom, 2014; Zukin, 1989, 2009).
Zukin’s explanation of Harlem’s recent gentrification is typical of the way the concept
cultural capital is currently used: “They have the cultural capital to appreciate the aesthetics
of heritage and the financial capital to buy into it” (Zukin, 2009: 87). Hence, current literature
reaffirms the Bourdieusian scheme in which cultural capital is contradictive of the logic of
conspicuous consumption, and consequently maintains the view that “in this [the housing] field
as elsewhere, experiences and expectations are differentiated … according to … the
position occupied in social space” (Bourdieu, 2005: 25).
Thus, the relationship between tastes and residential locations in current literature is
perceived as a fit between dispositions determined by actors’ socio-economic characteristics, and
the physical and symbolic properties of the urban environment. While this perception seats well
with Bourdieu’s treatment of location in actual space as a relatively direct reflection of positions in
abstract social space (Bourdieu, 1996a), it does not reflect the generative properties of the habitus
also emphasized by Bourdieu (see also: Benson and Jackson, 2013). This paper follows the notion
of tastes as emergent, however it also considers recent evidence and conceptualizations of places as
unique configurations of social-structure (Gieryn, 2000; Molotch et al., 2000).
2
This issue of authenticity vs. uniformity of the suburbs also form the distinction between fractions of the (new)
middle-classes which prefer more rural or rural-like settlements (Benson and Jackson, 2013). However, the suburban
neighborhoods explored in this paper does not fall under this category.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
5
Place and the formation of class tastes
This paper synthesizes existing bodies of work providing a rationale for considering the
constitutive role of place in shaping class tastes and presents an empirical exploration and a
theoretical conceptualization of the local formation of class tastes.
One line of investigation in the current literature is the statistical examination of whether the
correlation between places and consumption patterns transcend class categories. Unfortunately, this
question has been addressed only by a handful of studies. In their analysis of the influence of place
on museum-going and in their exploration of the effect of local clustering on patterns of cultural
omnivorousness, Widdop and Cutts (2016; 2012) have provided quantitative evidence of local
variations in consumption patterns within class categories. Their studies join earlier observations by
Savage et al. (2005) that find that while class categories continue to predict one's life-chances,
cultural preferences are better explained by place of residence. These works lay the empirical
groundwork and establish the need for further investigating and conceptualizing the effect of place
and the mechanisms of its influence.
A second and prolific body of work is found among European scholars who establish a
Bourdieusian urban theory (Bacqué et al., 2015; Benson, 2014; Benson and Jackson, 2013;
Boterman, 2012; Bridge, 2001, 2006; Butler, 2003; Butler and Robson, 2003a; Butler and Robson
2003b; Hanquinet L, Savage M and Callier L Savage, 2013; Savage et al., 2005; see also: Marom,
2014). These scholars apply Bourdieu’s framework to the study of the spatial distribution of groups
within the middle-class, their relationship with their place of residence, and more generally, the
relationship between class and urban processes. Working within this framework, Butler (1997) and
Butler and Robson (2003a) argued that neighborhoods can be a socializing arena for specific
middle-class identities. Going beyond spatial sorting, Benson and Jackson (2013) argued that
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
6
exploring the lining up of the habitus with different locations neglects the generative dimension of
the habitus. Instead, they suggested that the fit between social-actors and their residential location is
constituted through practices of place-making that transform urban space and the habitus.
However, both Butler and Robson, and Benson and Jackson have focused on the
transformation of urban/suburban space and have not fleshed out the specific ways in which
localities and neighborhoods shape middle-class tastes and identities. Ultimately, this body of work
has demonstrated the utility of Bourdieu’s framework in understanding how class processes and
identities play out, are distributed, and shape urban spaces, while leaving room for further
investigation of the ways urban space shape class processes, preferences and identities.
Two additional bodies of work complement the Bourdieusian perspective. First is the
introduction of practice theory to consumption studies. Practice theories both advance the view of
tastes as constituted, not as constitutive, and understand social order as derived from practice and
local context. As suggested by Warde (2005, 2014), practice theories may explain similarities in
consumption patterns among individuals and groups, resting on the organization of practices and on
public criteria for evaluating various practices. As localities tend to produce local patterns of
meaning and action (Paulsen, 2004), practice theories suggest that local context can shape both
individual tastes and local consumption patterns.
Secondly, recent advances in the sociology of place (Borer, 2006; Brown-Saracino, 2015;
Fine, 2010; Gieryn, 2000; Molotch, 2002; Molotch et al., 2000; Paulsen, 2004), while not touching
directly on issues of class, offer insightful conceptualization of place as an independent social
variable not reducible to its structural attributes or to the socio-economic characteristics of its
residents. Instead, place is conceptualized as a site where external forces "lash up" with each other
and with local conditions and history, creating the unique and holistic nature of local social reality
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
7
(Molotch et al., 2000:793; Paulsen Ibid). Building on this conceptualization, researchers have
demonstrated the influence of local-level variables on patterns of action and meaning (Kaufman and
Kaliner, 2011; Molotch et al., 2000), a well as the formation of local variations of sexual identities
among LGBT residents (Brown-Saracino, 2015).
Bringing together the Bourdieusian framework with the latest theories of place and evidence
of local consumption patterns, this paper treats urban space as a localized relational space,
characterized by local patterns of meaning and distinction. Following this conceptualization and
building on the generative nature of the habitus and practice theories of consumption, the paper
investigates the local formation of middle-class tastes.
Data and Methodology
This paper compares the residential choice process of first time homebuyers among middle-
class households in two Israeli cities: the central metropolis of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and the more
peripheral city of Beersheba.
Two types of data are utilized: Maps describing the social landscape of each city, generated
using GIS and the latest census data (2008) ; 60 in-depth interviews with middle-class households (n
subjects = 106). The interviews lasted around two hours, were professionally transcribed and
analyzed with the assistance of Atlas.ti.
The research population is composed of middle-class households, broadly defined as
households where at least one member has academic education, and by their ability to achieve
homeownership in Israel's increasingly expensive housing-market
3
. Interviewees were recruited
through personal networks and via posts in local Facebook groups. After a pre-test of ten
3
While there are significant differences in housing prices between the cities, in some gentrifying neighborhoods of Tel-
Aviv prices are similar to Beersheba’s middle-class neighborhoods.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
8
households still in the process of searching, only households who achieved homeownership in the
year or two before the study were interviewed. They were selected to insure adequate representation
of middle-class residential patterns of each city.
Homeownership and higher-education are two key mechanisms by which middle-class
positions are reproduced (Wright, 2009), and both are used by scholars of inequality as proxy for
middle-class identity, the latter more than the former (Chauvel and Hartung, 2019; Weiss, 2014;
Erola et al., 2016; Robinson and Garnier, 1985). However it is important to remember the middle-
class (or classes) is undergoing a process of cultural and economical differentiation. (Savage et al.,
2013), a differentiation evident even among the new middle-class (Méndez, 2008). The broad
definition used in this paper does not ignore this differentiation but stems from it. It is an analytical
strategy aimed to avoid reducing residential preferences to actors’ social profiles, and to allow a
comparison between two cities that simultaneously differ in the average profile of their middle-class
populations and contain significant variations among it.
As a result, there were differences between interviewees among the two cities but also
within them. On average, Tel-Avivians had higher levels of education and income and came from
more established families. Furthermore, in Tel-Aviv there was a larger representation of
occupations associated with the new urban middle-class such as in the cultural industries, media,
academia and the high-tech industry. In Beersheba there was a large representation of occupations
associated with the “traditional” middle-class, mainly engineers and workers in the public service.
Still, there was considerable variations in each city, and there were numerus cases of interviewees
with similar occupations and/or socio-economic attributes across the cities. More importantly, the
general trend in each city transcended fine-grained differences between interviewees. There were
more similarities between an English literature major working for an NGO and her Beershebian
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
9
neighbor employed in high-tech, than between the latter and a high-tech employee in Tel-Aviv. It is
these similarities within each city and the dissimilarities between them that are explored in this
paper.
Preferences for old and new neighborhoods in Tel-Aviv and Beersheba
The following two quotes reflect typical attitudes in Beersheba, where new neighborhoods
and buildings were mostly favored while old surroundings were greatly disliked:
I wanted a new neighborhood… you have things like parks,
kindergartens (…) I have a B.A, a good job and income. My wife, too, has
a B.A an M.A (…) So why not live better than others? (Elior, male,
insurance-agent; Eti female, psychologist)
The neighborhood was old, …We saw three apartments there (…) great
apartments, but they needed to be completely renovated (…) everything
was old… (Hedva female, city-employee, Moran, male, IT employee)
In contrast, most interviewees in Tel-Aviv preferred old areas, buildings and apartments, with new
neighborhoods and buildings being perceived negatively as unpleasant and alienating.
The apartment was very…very poorly kept. I mean the floor tiles were
Old – those painted floor tiles, very simple. We really wanted to keep
them (…) the apartment really had character. (Galit, female,
psychologist; Or, male, high-tech employee)
Ron (male, business manager): I took a tour of the residential towers'
area (…) it [the tower] looks like a hotel (…) something felt, like, too big,
too vulgar.
Alma (Female, academic): it's all glass walls, mirrors, shiny, not homey,
it's not us…
While looking at the fine-grained socio-economic profiles of interviewees, as suggested by current
theories, might explain some of the variances among them, this line of inquiry suffers from two
limitations. It ignores the generative properties of the habitus and the importance of local social-
space. Accordingly, it is blind to the general trend in each city and the importance of local context.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
10
As we shall see, interviewees’ accounts of their residential choices where entrenched with issues
related to local reality. Issues, such as the kind of people and lifestyles associated with different
type of neighborhoods or the area's perceived physical and socio-economic future. These themes
reflect local patterns of distinction and what I term “the local meaning of old and new”, their
sources, and their effect on interviewees’ preferences, are dealt with in the following sections.
The two cities and the local meanings of old and new
To understand the local meanings of old and new neighborhoods, it is necessary to
recognize the unique relationship between class and spatial processes constituting each city’s local
social space.
Tel Aviv-Jaffa: urban renewal and gentrification in Israel's so-called "only real
city" Tel-Aviv is Israel's economic and cultural center and a rising world city with strong ties to
the global economy and urban culture (Alfasi and Fenster, 2005; Kipnis, 2004). While the city’s
centrality and global image are not new (Azaryahu, 2008), its current status and character go back
to processes starting in the 1980's and early 90's. During these years, after a period of economic and
demographic decline, the city started to enjoy rising investments in office space and infrastructure,
and a growing in-migration of young educated individuals. The latter have not migrated to the
newly built northern neighborhoods, but to Tel-Aviv’s central areas which are both older and more
urban in character (Schnell, 2007; Schnell and Graicer, 1993, 1994). Led by an informal coalition of
cultural, municipal and economic actors, this was also a period of symbolic reconstruction which
portrayed Tel-Aviv as the ”city that never stops”, and its center as Israel’s “SoHo” (Azaryahu,
2008). Furthermore, in 2004 certain central streets that contain a high concentration of Bauhaus
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
11
buildings were recognized as an UNESCO world heritage site. The aura of the “white-city”, which
in reality is limited to a small number of buildings and streets, reflected on the whole center of Tel-
Aviv (Rotbard, 2015).
If the 1990's return-to-city was confined to its center, current data clearly demonstrate that
this is no longer the case. Map 1A shows the spatial distribution of educated residents within the
city and Map 1B the distribution of people aged 25-34. It is clear that the young educated
populations can be found today in many of the southern neighborhoods previously dominated by the
lower classes (Marom, 2014). Thus, like many urban centers around the world, southern Tel-Aviv is
undergoing gentrification.
The return to the city's center and the gentrification of its south is also reflected in a
restructuring of social and symbolic boundaries in Tel-Aviv’s space. Since gentrification has gone
hand in hand with the rise of the "new-urbanism" way of life, lower-class neighborhoods and social
diversity are now celebrated, at least declaratively, thus blurring the physical and symbolic class
boundaries between the affluent center and the poor south. Furthermore, while previously defined in
opposition to the city's poor and "vulgar" periphery, the current image of "the real Tel-Aviv" is now
constructed by the new middle-class mainly in opposition to its surrounding suburbs or the northern
suburban-like neighborhoods (Shani 2018).
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
12
Map 1A – Percentage of Tertiary educated individuals in Tel-Aviv
4
.
4
Years in the maps of Tel Aviv are based on Schnell and Graicer 2014 and on municipality data.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
13
Map 1B – Percentage of population aged 25-34 in different areas of Tel-Aviv.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
14
Beersheba – urban decline and the development of a semi-suburban space
Beersheba is Israel's southern metropolis and the central city of its surrounding area,
however it is still economically and culturally peripheral, ranking low in socio-economic status
(Avni et al., 2016). Socio-economic status is not the only difference between the two cities, which
differ significantly in middle-class residential patterns and their relationship to urban/suburban
culture.
The first modern neighborhoods of Beersheba where built from the outset as an attempt to
create rural-like communities within the city (Shadar and Oxman, 2003). Subsequent efforts to
strengthen the inner city, have failed due to processes taking place in the 1970's, and again in the
1990's. In both these times, new neighborhoods, constructed in the outer rings of the city in
anticipation of waves of immigrants, ended up attracting mainly well-off residents from older
neighborhoods (Avni et al., 2016; Grados, 2008).
Following the processes described above and the founding of three close-by suburban
localities in the 1980's, a pattern of inner-city decline was established. Young educated residents
started leaving the city's older areas to move either to the newly built neighborhoods at its margins
or they migrated out of the city completely. Consequently, the old neighborhoods underwent a
socio-physical decay, which also contributed to the out-migration of middle-class residents.
Following these processes, along with the opening of the city’s first shopping-mall, Beersheba’s
old Ottoman area which once was the city’s main shopping and business district with highly
regarded Arab architecture, also rapidly deteriorated (Avni et al., 2016). While currently there are
some limited singes of early gentrification in Beersheba’s “old-city”, their impact is limited.
Map 2A details the sequence in which the city’s different neighborhoods were established,
and Map 2B shows the distribution of the city's educated population. While there is a concentration
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
15
of young people in the old neighborhoods near the university, students in Beersheba are highly
isolated and most leave the city after graduation (Alfasi et al., 2012). Accordingly, to better
represent the effect of outer-migration of young Beershebaians, Map 2C shows the distribution of
people aged 65 and older. Together, one can see a clear concentration of young and educated
populations in the newer neighborhoods of the city and the opposite in its old areas.
Representing the common type of Israeli urban-suburban space, Beersheba’s new
neighborhoods are composed of a mix between semi-detached houses and residential towers and
physically and symbolically resemble the suburbs. They are almost physically detached from the
city, their built environment is relatively homogenous, they lack commercial areas, and are planned
for and marketed to middle-class families (Brand and Scialom, 2014; Berger 2015).This
characteristic of the new neighborhoods along with the concentration of middle-class residents, both
marks an inter-class boundary between old and new areas in Beersheba, while blurring the cultural
and symbolic distinction between urban and suburban ways of life.
We can thus recognize a unique relationship between class and spatial processes underlining
each city’s local social space, resulting in local meanings and patterns of class distinction associated
with old/new neighborhoods. In Beersheba, older neighborhoods are associated with old, lower-
class populations and socio-physical decay and new ones with young middle-class populations.
Consequently, inter-class boundaries are salient in Beersheba, where the middle-class mostly cluster
in the new semi-suburban neighborhoods at the city’s margins. In Tel-Aviv, urban renewal and
gentrification are leading to a spatial spread of the middle-class, blurring class divisions between
old and new areas and emphasizing instead intra-class boundaries that center on the differences
between urban and suburban ways of life.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
16
Map 2A Beersheba's neighborhoods according to year of establishment ((from Avni
et al.,2016)
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
17
Map2B Percentage of Tertiary educated individuals in Beersheba.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
18
Map 2.C Percentage of population aged 65+ in different areas of Beersheba
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
19
How place shapes taste
Having presented the local meanings and patterns of distinction associated with old and new
neighborhoods at the local-structural level, I will now show how they are reflected in the personal
accounts of Beershebaians and Tel-Avivians. I will then present three ways in which local reality
interacts with interviewees' initial preferences.
Local meanings, local distinctions
Looking at interviewees’ explanations of their residential choices we can see that references to
aesthetics were deeply intertwined with local meanings and patterns of distinction. In Beersheba,
this was apparent in the association between new neighborhoods with a “young, good population",
and with a sense of a promising future. See for example this common description of a new
neighborhood called Ramot.
… a young neighborhood and all that it implies- infrastructure, parks,
kindergartens. Everything is new. Schools are being built, so it is good
for young families.
Interviewer: And what attracts you in young families?
They are a higher level of population…this population will make sure that
the development of parks and things like that will continue. … For
example – the head of the neighborhood association … how old is he? Not
55 but 35. So he can take care of things…In our older neighborhood
everybody was a retiree (…) (Aviad, male engineer; Tova, female urban
planner)
Even if we go beyond aesthetics and look at other considerations such as a preference of a familial
lifestyle, the passage above demonstrates the saliency of local meanings and patterns of distinction.
The meaning and value of the “new neighborhood” is seen first in its association with young "high
quality" residents. However, the appeal of “young families” does not stand by itself. It is reinforced
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
20
by the belief that this population will promise a high quality of life and its preservation. Thus, new
neighborhoods carry with them the promise of avoiding the grim fate of old areas particular to
Beersheba.
This wish to avoid socio-economic and physical deterioration also accounts for much of the
enthusiasm expressed towards new and upscale buildings. This enthusiasm was underlined by the
assumption that the high cost of living in these buildings will act as a social barrier preventing the
entrance of "bad populations" from the old neighborhoods. population that are seen as threatening
the physical maintenance and socio-economic status of the building and the neighborhood. One
interviewee related the deterioration of his building to several residents not paying the regular
maintenance fees. Like many others in Beersheba, this interviewee wanted to move to a more
"upscale" building in a new neighborhood where "this type of people cannot afford to live”.
The saliency of local meanings and patterns of distinction was also evident in Beersebaian’s
attitudes towards old neighborhoods. See for example, one description of an old neighborhood in
the city.
The houses there are very old (…) the ceramics in the bathroom were
purple, it was really awful. The people there are hard-up. They've lived
there their whole lives (…) They lack the will to better themselves. It is not
a violent neighborhood… but poor people tend to be… they are not so
pleasant. There are more criminals, junkies, old people, things like that.
(Hedva, female, a city employee; Moran, male, IT worker)
While aesthetical references are not absent in the passage above, it also clearly reflects the current
status and history of old neighborhoods in Beersheba. First, there is the association of old
populations with poverty and even crime – an association which is by no means self-explanatory.
Second, the image of the residents of these areas as physically and socially immobile reflects the
local pattern of out-migration of better-off populations to the newer neighborhoods.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
21
In Tel-Aviv, different localized meanings and distinctions exist. While some of its older
parts still host large concentrations of poverty, interviewees did not perceive most old areas as
threatening or associate them with socio-economic deterioration. Instead, they were described as
pleasant, cozy, neighborly, urban, authentic, and “full of potential”. These descriptions sometimes
included aesthetical references to the architecture of certain historical areas or buildings and
common features of old Telavivian apartments such as painted floors and high ceilings. However,
these appreciations could not be separated from the local meaning of new/old neighborhoods and
local patterns of distinction.
For example, all interviewees who once moved from the city’s newer, northern
neighborhoods, to its older central or southern areas described their move as "moving to the real
Tel-Aviv". However, this reference to urban “authenticity” was not with regards to neighborhoods
historicity and architectural style but referred to manifestations of a middle-class urban culture in
these areas. See for example, Ora’s (female, Journalist) description of her move from the north to
the south of the city:
There's this atmosphere here… you can go down to the local bar in your
sweatpants. I think this is more the real Tel-Aviv then the uptightness of
the north.
Mirroring Beersheba, the appeal of old neighborhoods in Tel-Aviv is related to the existence of a
specific type of middle-class population and lifestyle. However, the value of its existence is linked
with its perceived effect on the neighborhood’s current and future status. Thus, Ora’s ability to
enjoy the urban atmosphere of her older southern neighborhood is underlined by the almost
complete gentrification of the area, which made her feel “more secure” in her area then in nearby
neighborhoods.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
22
For those who moved to areas still characterized by relatively high rates of poverty, the existence of
gentrification painted these areas with a promising future. For example, after complaining about the
physical condition of their building and about local residents’ behavior in public space (two
common themes in the attitudes towards old neighborhoods in Beersheba), one couple who moved
to an area still in early stages of gentrification, said.
When our son will be in his twenties, he'll be able to say – what cool
parents do I have! They bought a house in this neighborhood back when
it was still nothing… (Michal, female, designer; Eli, male, editor)
Thus, the appreciation of old in Tel-Aviv interacts with the local association of older neighborhoods
with a specific middle-class lifestyle, and local patterns of distinction delineating these areas from
the non-urban northern areas while guaranteeing their middle-class status.
New neighborhoods and buildings in Tel-Aviv were perceived negatively due to their
association with suburbia or with populations of "outsiders" to the city's middle-class urban culture.
For example, explaining her preference to live in an older building instead of the new ones available
in her southern neighborhood, one interviewee said: "it's not for me. I might as well live in the
suburbs". In another example, one couple who purchased a home in an affluent central area
elaborated on their fears from the changes it was undergoing:
… People are usually afraid of a so-called bad populations… But I think
about people who buy apartments in these boutique buildings with their
grandiose historical preservations (….). I think these are people with
money who don't really know the city and are not connected to it (…) and
it's really bringing me down. (Sigal female, academic; Dan, male, high-
tech employee)
In the last example, instead of appreciating the attempts to preserve the authentic style of buildings
in their neighborhoods, this (upper) middle-class couple perceive them as symbols of inauthenticity
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
23
due to their association with the upper classes (see: also Jackson and Benson, 2014). While the
aesthetics of these buildings may appeal to the class dispositions of couples like the one above, it is
local patterns of distinction which deem them inauthentic.
It is thus clear that understanding Beershebaians and Telavivians’ residential preferences as
reflecting solely or mainly their class disposition ignores the role of local meanings and patterns of
distinction. It is nearly impossible to separate aesthetical appreciations from the local association of
middle-class populations and lifestyles with different areas, and from local patterns of distinction.
As seen, the attitudes towards new or old where entwined with the maintenance of local inter and/or
intra class boundaries. Furthermore, in both cities, expectations regarding the future status of
neighborhoods played an important role in shaping interviewees likes or dislikes. Thus, the social
trajectory of urban locations, not only of social actors, played a key role in shaping middle-class
tastes in each city. Trajectories which are a clear reflection of the local relationship between class
and spatial processes. Hence, middle-class tastes in each city emerge from the interaction with local
social space and reality.
Between individual preferences and local reality
This part will explore the interaction between class dispositions and local social space by focusing
on the relationship between interviewees' stated initial preferences and local realities. I will show
how the former can be facilitated by the latter, but will also demonstrate how interviewees manage
disparities between their initial preferences and local realities. While all interviews involve some re-
narration, they can still provide a good enough picture of past events and enable the exploration of
cultural meanings that organize social actors lives and choices (Lamont and Swidler, 2014; Small,
2017). Thus, proceeding with caution, I will describe three forms of interaction between local
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
24
reality and class dispositions, demonstrating that the “fit” between social actors and their place of
residence is locally contingent and sometimes partial.
Matching and strengthening
Reflecting the homophilic nature of residential choices, in many cases interviewees' stated
preferences and social characteristics matched the local meanings of old and new. This match
strengthens interviewees’ original wishes by making them feel more commonsensical and/or
economically sensible. Hence, the choice of new neighborhoods in Beersheba was facilitated by the
mere fact that this was the norm for middle-class residents in the city. Similarly, the choice of run-
down but still expensive buildings in old neighborhoods in Tel-Aviv, was encouraged by the
expectation of their upcoming gentrification.
However, even in cases of a perfect fit between dispositions and local conditions,
interviewees did not operate in abstract social space. Their residential history and local knowledge
were interwoven with their choices. For example, Shlomit and Yuval, a designer and a public-sector
employee, match in their socio-economic profile, lifestyle and aesthetic tastes to southern Tel-Aviv.
Consequently, the story of how they searched for a home reflects almost full homology between
cultural disposition, practices and social space.
[we wanted] high ceilings, painted tiled floors (…) preferably, in a rotten
condition so we could renovate.... We combed the streets, we answered
every ad we saw, preferably handwritten ones (…) [They] seemed more
interesting, more real (…)
Nevertheless, even the residential choice process of this couple was shaped by their particular
residential history and local knowledge. Having lived in the same neighborhood for several years,
this couple, like many others, limited the scope of their search to their own neighborhood and its
surrounding areas. Even though they appreciated the architectural style of other southern
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
25
neighborhoods, some of which were cheaper, their lack of familiarity with them steered them away.
Thus, even cases of a fit between social actors and their urban environment are locally bounded and
are not a simple reflection of the fit between social actors and their position in abstract social space.
Channeling
Sometimes, local meanings and patterns of distinction matched one of several preferences held by
an interviewee. For example, during the interview with David and Meital, a student of economics
and an accountant from Beersheba, the two described with great enthusiasm the “luxurious”
features of their new apartment building. However, at one-point David reflected critically on their
enthusiasm: "… luxurious…it's funny that we say that because it's not like we are that kind
of posh people…." His wife then joined in and the discussion rapidly turned to the local meaning
of new buildings in an attempt to explain and justify their feelings.
Above all it's the population (...) You know, there are all these areas
where you buy a new apartment and people ruin the building… Where
we bought, people like that could not afford to live.
While their enthusiasm of “luxury” matched this couple’s socio-economic profile, it conflicted with
their self-perception of being “not posh”. The local meaning of new buildings helped them to
resolve this dissonance. Hence the seeming fit between their socio-economic characteristics,
aesthetic tastes, and residential choices is actually only partial and facilitated by local reality.
In Tel-Aviv, several interviewees considered the idea of replacing their small apartment and
busy street with a big house with a garden in a quiet environment. However, they rejected the idea
of searching for this type of residence in the city's suburban neighborhoods or suburbs, viewing
them as places devoid of authentic life. "For me, it's either Tel-Aviv or the countryside," was a
common expression. Hence the seeming fit between some middle-class urbanites in Tel-Aviv and
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
26
their residential choice is channeled by a local symbolic social space. These interviewees could see
themselves residing in very different surroundings, but as long as they lived in Tel-Aviv, they
accepted the local association between urban culture and authenticity as opposed to the image of the
suburbs.
Inhibiting and reshaping
In other cases, the local meaning of old and new contrasted with interviewees' initial preferences.
Sometimes interviewees found themselves adhering in their choice to the local reality and adopted
the local meaning of old or new to justify to their choice. For example, Bat-el and Ronen, a bakery
chef and an IT employee from Beersheba, resembled interviewees from southern Tel-Aviv in their
socio-economic characteristics and in their self-described “laid back” lifestyle. Consequently, they
initially preferred Beersheba's older neighborhoods. However, during their search they realized that
"the good [old] places in the city have become scarcer", and consequently ended up buying an
apartment in one of the city's newer neighborhoods. Note how they adopt the local meaning of new
neighborhoods when explaining their choice.
(…) This area is the more prestigious one (…) everything is new, there are
a lot of young couples, young families, everything is very young, and
renewing (…)
Furthermore, the example above does not reflect a simple case of “love of necessity” by which
actors conform to the limitations imposed by their objective attributes (Bourdieu, 2005: 25). While
they adopted the local meaning of new neighborhoods to assign value to their choice, this couple
also made a point to disassociate themselves from common local consumerist patterns by saying:
“we are not power center people (…) we prefer to take our children to the north to see the
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
27
snow” . Thus, the fit between this couple and their residential area is both locally emergent and
only partial.
In Tel-Aviv, a few interviewees preferred the comforts of the newer northern neighborhoods
or new buildings in southern areas. However, their preferences notwithstanding, they had to face the
contrast between their choice and local intra-class distinctions. For example, two couples from the
northern margins of Tel-Aviv, an area much more expensive then the suburbs yet only 10 minutes
away, saw their residential choice as reflecting their wish to remain in the city and maintain an
urban lifestyle. However, they had to face the image of their area as not the "real Tel-Aviv" and
gave examples of their friends taunting them and asking if they needed passports to visit central
Tel-Aviv.
Another couple – Amit, female, artist; Eran, male a PhD student – bought an apartment in a
new project in a gentrified part of Jaffa with the generous support of Eran’s parents. However, they
felt so uneasy about the way this choice reflected on them that they rented out their new apartment
and stayed in their smaller, older, rented apartment, Eran said:
I haven’t told most of my friends about this apartment (…)
We are not in a rush to move there (…)
Anat added:
if his parents would not have thrown all this money on us, we would have
never lived there… We wouldn't have rented in a place like that…
The examples in the previous sections clearly demonstrate the generative properties of the habitus.
However, the picture emerging from them does not correspond the Bourdieusian perspective of
"fish in water” who are "made for the water and the water made for them" (In Lahire 2011:45, with
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28
reference to Bourdieu). Thus, exploring how local opportunities, distinctions and meanings not only
reinforce but also channel and reshape actors’ preferences.
Towards an emplaced exploration of class dispositions
Recognizing the generative properties of the habitus, this paper aimed to demarcate place’s role in
shaping middle-class cultural tastes and preferences. Analysis began with describing the local
history underlying the relationship between class and spatial processes in each city. This
relationship is reflected in a locally organized social space in which old or new neighborhoods are
associated with specific meanings and patterns of distinction. Exploring interviewees’ accounts of
their residential choice demonstrated that aesthetical and lifestyle considerations are interwoven
with local meanings and distinctions. Furthermore, scrutinizing the interaction between
interviewees’ initial preferences and local realities revealed that the fit between the socio-economic
characteristics of actors and residential locations is locally contingent and sometimes partial.
This portrayal raises questions regarding dominant understandings of class tastes. First, is
the view of classed tastes as reflecting the relational positioning of specific class positions against
others (Bourdieu, 1984). Second, is the understanding of personal tastes as generated through the
process of position-taking. In this process, during their movement in social space and in responses
to its demands, social actors develop the dispositions associated with the social position they come
to occupy (Bourdieu, 1996b, 2000).
Whereas these conceptions donate a spatial imagery, it is important to remember that
Bourdieu mostly rejected a localized sociological perspective and viewed actual space as a
manifestation of social space (Bourdieu, 1996a). Furthermore, with regard to urban space, the
homology between abstract social structure and actual space is resting on “methodological
nationalism” (Beck, 2007). That is, the homology between urban space and social structure is
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
29
achieved, in the Bourdieusian analysis, through the power of the state in constructing the housing
market and physical space (Bourdieu, 2005). It is not surprising then, that local social space is
mostly missing from the Bourdieusian analysis and when it is considered its effect is mostly limited
to bringing to light dispositions that are predicted by actors' objective characteristics (Ibid: 174-175)
or to the neutralization of the hierarchal nature of society (1996a).
While in the past one could justify the view of urban space as determined by the state and
social structure, this is hardly the case today when cities are also globally positioned (Sassen, 2006).
The findings of this paper join previous findings (Brown-Saracino, 2015; Cutts and Widdop, 2016;
Savage et al., 2005; Widdop and Cutts, 2012) in supporting a localized perspective on the processes
through which cultural tastes and dispositions are shaped and maintained.
Such a perspective first calls for considering the local relationship between class and spatial
processes in different localities, thus approaching the social space of cities as a localized variation
of social structure not its reflection. This approach extends Bourdieu’s view of relationality as
contextual not structural from the national to the local level. As seen in this paper - in the same vein
that in France and Japan golf is associated with different meanings and social distinctions (Bourdieu
2005), so do old and new neighborhoods in Beersheba and Tel-Aviv. Consequently, the movements
and locations of social actors in urban space should not be seen as homologist to the process of
position-taking in abstract social space.
Instead I offer the concept of “emplacement“ to describe the processes by which social
actors come to occupy their socially designated location in actual urban places and develop the
tastes and dispositions associated with living in these areas. While recognizing the homophilic
nature of actors’ movement in urban space, as produced by the habitus, the concept of emplacement
also considers local reality. That is, that the same social positions in different localities (e.g. middle-
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
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30
class neighborhoods) may be characterized by different properties and be associated with different
meanings and patterns of distinction. While we can expect that different localities will attract
different types of actors, people arrive to their residential locations from various reasons only some
are contingent on class (Butler, 1997). The concept of emplacement expands current inquiry on the
relationship between class and place by also accounting for what happens after social-actors arrive
to a certain locality.
This line of inquiry can better account for both the growing alignment of class segments
with specific locations and evidence of local cultural patterns that transcend class categories. Both
trends could be seen as shaped by processes of emplacement. More specifically, this concept can
enable us to recognize the role of place in shaping class dispositions and identities. Elsewhere I
have discussed the relevance of emplacement in shaping attitudes towards social others and patterns
of entering adulthood (Shani 2018). The findings presented in this paper focus on the salient issue
of class tastes and describe the role of local social space not only in matching and strengthening
preexisting dispositions, but also in channeling and reshaping them.
For scholars of consumption, the analysis calls attention to the importance of paying close
attention to local meanings and patterns of distinction. As seen, these are interwoven with social
actors’ understandings the different options available to them and these understandings play a role
in shaping their appreciations and choices. While to date local meanings have been studies mainly
in relation to single neighborhoods and localities and mostly in way of interaction, this paper calls
attention to the local structural level and to the meanings and social distinctions that are produced
by the unique relationship of class and spatial process underlying the social space of cities and their
translation into social-actors’ preferences and choices.
Shani/ How Place Shapes taste
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The Journal of Consumer Culture by SAGE
Publications Ltd,. All rights reserved. It is available on: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540519882486
31
More generally, my analysis aims to contribute to current attempts to reintegrate place in the
study of class formation. As class structure becomes more fragmented in many countries, and with
the increase in evidence of the spatial organization of cultural and political disparities within broad
social categories, this paper has sought to re-establish the constitutive role of place in shaping and
not just reflecting social reality.
Acknowledgements
This paper is based on a PhD dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology and
Anthropology at Tel-Aviv University, under the direction of Nissim Mizrachi. Appreciation is
expressed to Eva Illouz and Yuval Yonay, who were at the dissertation committee. Appreciation is
also expressed to Ori Schwartz, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
Funding
This work was supported by The Jonathan Shapira Foundation, The David Horowitz Research
Institute and Tel-Aviv Global Research Scholarship.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.
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