The Hipster Economy
The book can be read and downloaded freely in pdf from this link on the publisher’s website.
Today, being authentic has become an aspiration and an imperative. The notion of authenticity shapes the consumption habits of individuals in the most diverse contexts such as food and drinks, clothing, music, tourism and the digital sphere, even leading to the resurgence of apparently obsolescent modes of production such as craft. It also significantly transforms urban areas, their local economies and development. The Hipster Economy analyses this complex set of related phenomena to argue that the quest for authenticity has been a driver of Western societies from the emersion of capitalism and industrial society to today.
From this premise, the book advances multiple original contributions. First, it explains why and how authenticity has become a fundamental value orienting consumers’ taste in late modern capitalism; second, it proposes a novel conceptualisation of the aesthetic regime of consumption; third, the book constitutes the first detailed analysis of the resurgence of the neo-craft industries, their entrepreneurs, and the economic imaginary of consumption underpinning them, and fourth, it analyses how the hipster economy is impacting the urban space, favouring new logic of urban development with contrasting outcomes.
Endorsements and review excerpts for The Hipster Economy
‘The term “hipster” usually evokes frivolity, while the concept of “authenticity” has been studied so extensively it’s getting hard to find a novel use for it. In this lovely new book, Gerosa has given hipsterism the serious analysis it deserves. Through clear, unforced writing, he convincingly reveals the importance of a distinct form of hipster aesthetics, one based on authentic experience, for today’s consumption-based economy. Gerosa has successfully enlivened the conversations around authenticity and started new ones around late capitalism’s regimes of accumulation. This book is a fine achievement.’
Richard E. Ocejo, CUNY Graduate Center and John Jay College
‘The Hipster Economy is a very welcome addition to sociological discussions of authenticity and consumer culture. Ethnographic vignettes of “crafty capitalism” and passionate “taste dealers” enliven a theoretically rich argument that hipsterism should be treated not as a subculture, but as an aesthetic regime typifying contemporary life. Using the “hipster” as a lens, Gerosa provides a masterful tour of post-Fordist changes to modes of capitalism, patterns of urban development, and the material practices and subjective experiences of work, while charting the long-term development and contemporary expression of authenticity as a master narrative in consumer culture.’
Jennifer Smith Maguire, Sheffield Hallam University
‘The Hipster Economy stands as a highly cogent, clearly written exploration of the mechanics of late modern capitalism, and a fine example—especially to graduate students—of a carefully developed, persuasive theoretical contribution to an ongoing debate.’
‘The Hipster Economy stands as a highly cogent, clearly written exploration of the mechanics of late modern capitalism, and a fine example—especially to graduate students—of a carefully developed, persuasive theoretical contribution to an ongoing debate.’
‘a bright insight into the state of late capitalism, analysing a new aesthetic consumer regime in the most diverse contexts such as food, drinks, clothing, music, tourism, craftwork and the digital and the urban sphere.’
‘The Hipster Economy posits a consumer phenomenon in scholarly terms and The New Yorker confirms it in the marketplace.’
Resources on The Hipster Economy
Here you can find the link to a number of audio, video, or written resources discussing the book or interviewing me over its content. The resources listed here are in English or French. For the resources in Italian, visit the corresponding page.
Podcasts
How the hipster economy went mainstream, by Emilie Friedlander with Alessandro Gerosa. Podcast for The Culture Journalist Substack
Video interviews
The Hipster Economy, a conversation with Alessandro Gerosa. A video interview and roundtable for the Garland Magazine.
Things They don’t do in Florida, ep. 7 with Alessandro Gerosa. A video interview with Mårten Spångberg for his Things They don’t do in Florida project, supported by The Canada Council for the Arts and HKF.
Urban Economies of Display - digital seminar. A digital seminar for the Geomedia Speaking Series, with a common presentation of The Hipster Economy and On Display, by John D. Boy and Justus Uitermark.
Articles and written interviews
Trdelník: The Czech food that’s not Czech, published on the BBC, by David Farley. Yep, hi mum, I got on the BBC! 
The deceit of the hipster economy, published on the Institute of Art and Ideas, by Alessandro Gerosa
The Hipster Economy, published on MediaCat Magazine, by Faris Yakob
Déjà brew, published on The Sociological Review Magazine, by Alessandro Gerosa and Alessandro Gandini
l’économie hipster ou la quête désespérée de l’authenticité, publié sur L’ADN, by Laure Coromines.
Academic reviews
Book Review: The Hipster Economy, published on the Journal of Consumer Culture, written by D Wood
Book Review: The Hipster Economy, published on Sociology journal, written by Camilla Volpe