Alessandro Gerosa

Gerosa profile photo

Alessandro Gerosa

Researcher in Cultural Sociology

University of Milan Profile
ORCID Profile

The Hipster Economy is out!

My first book, the Hipster Economy (UCL Press), is freely available in Open Access from the publisher’s webpage.

Access the book here: The Hipster Economy – UCL Press

For all the book-related media or academic request, please contact me by email at alessandro[at]unimi.it or on Twitter (see on the left).

Praises 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

In a recent issue of The New Yorker, one researcher/writer investigates bagels (Goldfield, 2024: p. 6), while another highlights cocktails (Shteyngart, 2024: p. 6). The magazine, that could be said to embody ‘hip’—“fashionable, up-to-date; stylish, sophisticated; cool” (OED)—confirms the veracity and universality of Alessandro Gerosa’s thesis. The Hipster Economy posits a consumer phenomenon in scholarly terms and The New Yorker confirms it in the marketplace. D Wood, The Journal of Consumer Culture

In and of itself then, ‘The Hipster Economy’ succeeds as a thorough analysis of hipster culture as an aesthetic regime of consumption concerned with authenticity’. Hate Meditations

Featured in:

Articles and long forms
Podcasts and videos:
  • New Books Network with Jeff Adler, listen to it! (or watch an excerpt here)
  • The Culture Journalist, with Emilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanik, listen to it!
  • Garland Magazine Talk, watch it here!
  • Things They Don’t In Florida, with Mårten Spångberg, watch it here!
  • Intervistautori con Camilla Volpe, ascolta qui! [IT]
  • Intervista per Lo Scaffale di Primo, Radio Onda d’Urto, ascolta qui! [IT]
Presentations and events
  • 29/05/24: Garland Magazine talk series, online: register here
  • 29/04/24: Chinese Sociology Society UK, online
  • 22/04/24: Authenticity network, online
  • 21/03/24: Book launch at the Birmingham Business School. Registration form
  • 20/03/24: Book presentation at the University of Sussex, Department of Strategy and Marketing.
  • 06/03/24: Book presentation at the Centre for Research into the Organization of Work and Consumption, Anglia Ruskin University. Register for online participation here.
  • 08/02/24: Book presentation at the Centre for Research in Economic Sociology and Innovation, University of Essex.

Who I am // Chi sono

EN
I am a researcher in cultural sociology.
Currently, I am a Assistant Professor in Cultural Sociology (Rtd-B) at the University of Milan. I completed a PhD in sociology at the University of Milan, after a master degree in International Relations.

IT
Monzese, ricercatore in sociologia culturale.
Attualmente sono Ricercatore in sociologia culturale (Rtd-B) presso l’Università degli Studi di Milano. Ho svolto un dottorato in sociologia presso l’Università Statale di Milano, dopo essermi laureato in Relazioni Internazionali.


My research // Le mie ricerche

EN
I draw from an interdisciplinary approach to sociology to analyse the contemporary society and capitalistic transformations through consumer cultures. My recent research focuses on (1) the role of authenticity in contemporary taste and the rise of neo-craft industries, (2) digital cultures and digital methods, (3) urban transformations.
Click here to read more

IT
Adotto un approccio interdisciplinare alla sociologia per analizzare la società contemporanea e le trasformazioni capitalistiche attraverso i fenomeni di consumo. La mia ricerca si concentra su (1) il ruolo dell’autenticità nel gusto contemporaneo e l’ascesa delle industrie neo-artigianali, (2) le culture e i metodi digitali, (3) i processi di trasformazione urbana.
Clicca qui per saperne di più

Below you can find a selected list of my publications, divided by topic. You can also keep updated on my publications through Google Scholar and Researchgate.

Click here to access the complete list instead

N.B.= If you can’t access some of my publications, drop me an email!


My writings // I miei scritti

CONTRIBUTI IN ITALIANO

Ho scritto su diversi temi per alcune riviste e magazine online, elencate qui:

WRITINGS IN ENGLISH

I wrote my thoughts on a number of topics for magazines and blogs. You can read them here: