Abstract
This paper examines the politics of taste among cycling communities in Hsinchu. The authors use Hennion's concepts of mediatory networks and practice of taste to interrogate Bourdieu's concepts of capital and politics of taste and elaborate five types of ”bicycle-rider” networks. Our goal is to contribute to an alternative understanding of the politics of taste from a practice-oriented perspective. Apart from the economic and social capitals, and cultural capital of fine art that Bourdieu examines, we propose two additional types of capital-technical and cultural capital of fashion-to explore the contested tastes in the emerging bicycle-riding culture. We also elaborate on the theoretical implications of a practice-oriented study of taste and its empirical implications for Taiwanese society.