ABSTRACT

This book has covered a wide range of themes distilled through the filter of the café . Urbanization, technological innovation, population mobility, changes to social structures, work and working conditions, and the rise of the design and knowledge industries – all find expression in the contemporary café . My initial sociological interest, prompted by the constant emergence and overwhelming popularity of new café s in my own inner-city neighbourhood, was broadened once I began to research and talk about the topic with café  patrons and staff.