Individual lifestyle activities are often studied as isolated indicators of taste, social position, or political preference. Yet examining them in combination can reveal forms of social and political meaning that are difficult to see individually. This dissertation develops the concept of the lifestyle bundle to capture configurations of everyday practices whose meaning emerges relationally. From “latte-drinking liberals” to “bird-hunting conservatives,” lifestyles can cluster into recognizable constellations that shape perceptions of similarity and difference.

The dissertation asks three questions: what constitutes a lifestyle bundle, and how does it differ from related concepts such as taste or individual preference? To what extent can the clustering of everyday practices be understood in relation to material and instrumental forces? And what can lifestyle bundles reveal about social groups and their boundaries? Across four empirical studies, it shows that everyday practices are patterned by socioeconomic position and political affiliation, that their combinations vary across political contexts and groups, and that these configurations can function as recognizable markers of social and political distinction. Rather than treating individual activities as inherently political, the dissertation demonstrates how political meaning can emerge from their configuration within broader social contexts.       

The studies draw on survey and digital trace data from the United States and Sweden and combine quantitative, qualitative, and computational approaches. An integral methodological paper on technological reflexivity further examines how emerging computational tools can be used to study meaning in everyday life.