Otis, EileenOtt, Brian2018-09-062018-09-062018-09-06https://hdl.handle.net/1794/23720This dissertation examines the intersections of the body, senses, and labor within a Post-Fordist, consumption based economy. Data was collected via ethnographic research of specialty coffee baristas. The concepts of “sense work,” “taste frameworks,” and “minimum wage connoisseurship” are introduced for identifying the social components of sensory experience. The specialty coffee industry serves as one examples of a larger “taste economy.” This research demonstrates how sensory experience can fall under management control and aid in the development of a new, niche “consumer market” (Otis 2011), characteristic of Post-Fordism. Additionally, an examination of the boundary work and identity formation within the specialty coffee industry provides new insights into how the body and the senses are implicated in the production and reproduction of class inequality.en-USCreative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-USBodyFoodLaborOccupationsSensesService WorkElectronic Thesis or Dissertation