1st Edition

Middle Class Identities and Social Crisis Cultural and Political Perspectives on the ‘Global Rebellion’

    248 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book explores the dynamics of the "middle-class global rebellion" born of the frustration at declining living standards. Addressing narratives constructed by different social and political agents and groups, it examines contexts of social crisis in Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, understanding the middle classes as a set of complex and conflicting political relationships. With attention to the manner in which people create "situated habits", consolidating new expectations and desires through a concrete biography, it analyzes continuities and changes in classed self-perceptions based on performative use.

    With new perspectives, including historical and intersectional approaches, Middle Class Identities and Social Crisis transcends disciplinary boundaries to explore the hybridity of research methods and techniques and challenge established analytical frameworks. It will therefore appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in class and questions of class identity.

    Introduction. Configuring the Middle Class

    Alejandro Grimson, Menara Guizardi, and Silvina Merenson

    1. Unequal and Divided: The Middle Classes in Contemporary Brazil
    2. Sérgio Costa

    3. Middle Sectors and Classes in Colombia: Confluences and Contrasts between Bogota and Tumaco
    4. Eduardo Restrepo

    5. Middle-Class Political and Cultural Subjectivities in the Chilean Social Outburst: Meritocracy, Social Justice, and Malaise
    6. María-Luisa Méndez and Modesto Gayo

    7. The Middle Classes in Bolivia: "Not a Good Idea"?
    8. Amaru Villanueva Rance, Eduardo Paz Gonzales, and Susanna Rance

    9. The Russian Middle Class: A Sociological Observation
    10. Jouko Nikula, Mikhail Chernysh, and Harri Melin

    11. The Middle Class in Portugal and Brazil: From Consent to Rebellion (2011-2013)
    12. Elísio Estanque

    13. Political Struggles and the Transformation of the Conservative Middle Class in Turkey
    14. Aksu Akçaoğlu

    15. Searching for a Global Middle Class in Nairobi and Berlin
    16. Gunter Weidenhaus and Eva Korte

    17. Surveillance and the Selva? Digital Middle-Class Identities in Angola and across the South Atlantic
    18. Jess Auerbach

    19. The Malaise of the Chinese Middle Class
    20. Jean-Louis Rocca

    21. 'Middle-class' Educational Strategies and Right-wing Politics in Australia: From Conflict to Consensus?

    Joel Windle

    Biography

    Alejandro Grimson is full researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research and Full Professor in the Interdisciplinary School of Higher Social Studies at the National University of San Martín, Argentina.

    Menara Guizardi is an adjunct researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research and at the Interdisciplinary School of Higher Social Studies at the National University of San Martín, Argentina and associate researcher at the University of Tarapacá, Chile.

    Silvina Merenson is an adjunct researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research and adjunct professor in the School of Higher Social Studies at the National University of San Martín, Argentina.