An Analysis of the Habitus of Cafe Users in Daneshgah Boulevard in Zahedan City

ABSTRACT
Cafes have a special place for users and are spaces for spending leisure time, a sense of relaxation and a platform for informal activities that are contrary to the discourse of power. The purpose of this article is to analyze the atmosphere prevailing in the cafes of Daneshgah Boulevard in Zahedan city. In this regard, Bourdieu's theoretical approach and his Field Theory have been used. The research method of this research is qualitative and based on the analysis of the viewpoints of the cafe owners and baristas of the selected cafes on this street. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. For this purpose, two types of cafes on this Boulevard (8 cafes in total), including take-out cafes and coffee shops, were selected, and 12 people were interviewed. Based on the obtained results, two types of coffee and espresso consumption habitus (among natives) and going to cafes (mostly among students) were observed. The fields mentioned in the investigation of cafes included the economic, socio-cultural, political and power fields. By using different strategies, cafe owners try to attract different users, and there is a difference between the actions and activities of natives and students. Examining the relationship between the identified categories showed that the core categories include changing habitus, increasing coffee consumption and turning cafes into quasi-public spaces that attract people under the influence of causal conditions such as the desire to change the social position, the changeability of habitus and the use of coffee for treatment. Cafe users' action against these changes was to accept new habitus and, at the same time, localize consumption and space. The consequences of this action were the weakening of restrictions, improvement of the economy, communication, and thinking
Extended Abstract
Introduction
One of the attractions in Zahedan, especially on Daneshgah Boulevard, is cafes that have expanded on this street. A variety of cafes in the form of take-out cafes and coffee shops has attracted the local community and students and led to the vitality and dynamism of this street. The tradition of going to cafes in Zahedan dates back to ten years ago, and coffee consumption has become a dominant culture among the natives. The questions of this research are: 
-What are the habitus of cafe users and their activities, and how are these habitus affected by Field Theory? 
In order to answer them, Bourdieu's analytical approach has been used to formulate the conceptual framework of this research. Despite the fact that the third place, the public realm or other approaches have been used in the other studies, this study aims to make a profound and interpretive analysis of cafes by using the dimensions of this theory.
 
Methodology
As a qualitative research, the purpose of this study is to analyze the cafes and habitus in Zahedan City. A semi-structured interview method was used to collect data. Three general and related issues have been questioned as the habitus, different fields and types of activities and practices. The target group of the research was 12 cafe owners and baristas on Daneshgah Boulevard of Zahedan. The cafe owners and baristas were asked about the habitus and practices of the cafe users. At the same time, in order to investigate the difference between the habitus of the research groups, i.e. natives and students, two types of cafes have been considered. The interviews were conducted in the winter of 2023 when the academic semester was still ongoing. The sample size was obtained according to the theoretical saturation and 3 take-out cafes and 5 coffee shops were selected. For choosing them first, by referring to the websites, the list of the best cafes in Zahedan was extracted, and two cafes (Pelas and Fenjun), which were on the top list and located on Daneshgah Boulevard, were selected. In the next step, Cafe de France, Cafe Honar, and Be Vaght-e Cafe were introduced by the cafe owners and baristas and were added to the list. Three take-out cafes (Cafe Tak, E.L.K Cafe and Mr. Raeis) were selected also. Cafe Tak is one of the oldest take-out cafes. For analyzing the data, the interviews were first coded and based on the conceptual framework; the layers related to the users' habitus were analyzed through Bourdieu's Field Theory. Then, grounded theory was applied to develop the research model. The process of coding, categorization, and the relationship between the categories in the form of defining the core category and identifying casual, context, and intervening conditions, as well as the action and interaction strategies, were considered.
 
Results and discussion
Two types of habitus were identified; the habitus of consuming coffee and espresso, and more intensively, the consumption of espresso, which was more common among the natives, and the habitus of going to the coffee shops, which mainly was observed among the young, students, and women. Considering the function of cafes, economic, socio-cultural, political and power fields were also identified. Besides the analysis based on the field theory, categories have been identified for developing the conceptual model. Based on the interviews, 38 primary codes, 21 sub-categories and 11 main categories were defined. Moreover, the relationship between the categories and the concepts of the Field Theory were also examined and analyzed. The main categories include the changeability of habitus and lifestyle, changing the image of the city and social condition, the category of difference and distinction, freedom, spatial control, economy-oriented categories and strategy, economic orientation, and harmony of ethnic and critical thinking.
The core categories include two concepts as changing the habitus of the natives and increasing the consumption of coffee and espresso, and turning cafes into dynamic and active quasi-public spaces. The causal conditions included dynamic and acquired characteristics of habitus, coffee consumption as a treatment and the desire of natives and residents for socio-cultural change. The conditions that are affected by the specific time and place impressed the core categories, including the desire to change, the presence of students in the city, and the therapeutic use of coffee. Also, the categories related to the improvement of capital and the economic fields were recognized as effective. The intervening conditions that had an impression on the core categories included spatial monitoring and control, which impose restrictions on the acceptance of cafes as a public domain. The moderator conditions included differences and distinctions. Also, since the acceptance of habitus has positive effects on the city and natives, it can be identified as another moderator condition. For example, changing habitus and turning cafes into a dominant activity in the city promoted symbolic capital, changed the image of the city, and increased collective consensus. Also, the use of economic strategies by cafe owners has an influence on the core category. Action and interaction included different strategies. One of these strategies is localization and change in coffee consumption and space (different types of coffee shops and emphasis on some products). In other words, the concept of coffee and espresso for natives is different from its original concept. Also, the natives' strategy against this new habitus is to use its advantages to improve the economic, socio-cultural, and symbolic capital.
 
Conclusion
The aim of this research was to analyze the dominant atmosphere which influences the habitus related to cafes in Zahedan City. For this purpose, among different approaches to studying this issue, the Field Theory of Bourdieu was selected. This theory, on the one hand, is a unified approach and free from the dualities of subject/object, structure/agency, etc. On the other hand, by combining theory with practice and introducing a method, examine the issues with different fields such as society, culture and politics and their impact on habitus. So, it is a comprehensive and practical approach. Bourdieu's theory considers the detailed expansion of concepts' applied mechanisms and is different from similar concepts, so through it, examining the impact of concepts on each other is possible. Also, due to the comprehensiveness of this theory, the identified categories are related not only to the social and cultural layers but also to the political, ethnic, and economic layers. As another highlighted point, the case of Daneshgah Boulevard in Zahedan, which has been less studied in the urban planning discipline, led to the introduction of this street as a lively and dynamic space and as the symbolic capital of this city.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.