Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Maps
- List of Tables
- List of Abbreviations
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Problem of the ‘Rural Middle Class(es)’
- 1 Trajectory of the Indian Middle Class: Its Size and Geographical Variations
- 2 In Search of the Rural Middle Classes: From Village Stratification to Rural Household Variations
- 3 Marx: Capital, Labour and the Rural Middle Classes
- 4 Weber: Marketable Capital, Status and the Rural Middle Classes
- 5 Bourdieu: Cultural Capital, Self-perception and the Middle-class Identity in Rural India
- Conclusion: Understanding the Rural Middle Classes
- Appendix A1 Non-farm Occupations in Rahatwade and Nandur
- Appendix A2 Caste and Occupations: The Urban Middle-Class Labour Market
- Appendix A3 Caste and Occupations in Rural India since 1991
- Appendix A4 Caste and Income Distribution
- Appendix A5 Caste and Socio-economic Indicators in Rural and Urban India
- Appendix A6 Caste Composition of Urban Middle Classes in India
- Appendix A7 Caste Composition of the Rural Middle Classes in Maharashtra
- Appendix A8 Household Survey Questionnaire 1
- Appendix A9 Household Socio-economic Survey Questionnaire 2
- References
- Index
1 - Trajectory of the Indian Middle Class: Its Size and Geographical Variations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 May 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Maps
- List of Tables
- List of Abbreviations
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Problem of the ‘Rural Middle Class(es)’
- 1 Trajectory of the Indian Middle Class: Its Size and Geographical Variations
- 2 In Search of the Rural Middle Classes: From Village Stratification to Rural Household Variations
- 3 Marx: Capital, Labour and the Rural Middle Classes
- 4 Weber: Marketable Capital, Status and the Rural Middle Classes
- 5 Bourdieu: Cultural Capital, Self-perception and the Middle-class Identity in Rural India
- Conclusion: Understanding the Rural Middle Classes
- Appendix A1 Non-farm Occupations in Rahatwade and Nandur
- Appendix A2 Caste and Occupations: The Urban Middle-Class Labour Market
- Appendix A3 Caste and Occupations in Rural India since 1991
- Appendix A4 Caste and Income Distribution
- Appendix A5 Caste and Socio-economic Indicators in Rural and Urban India
- Appendix A6 Caste Composition of Urban Middle Classes in India
- Appendix A7 Caste Composition of the Rural Middle Classes in Maharashtra
- Appendix A8 Household Survey Questionnaire 1
- Appendix A9 Household Socio-economic Survey Questionnaire 2
- References
- Index
Summary
It is manifest that the best political community is formed by citizens of the middle class, and that those states are likely to be well-administered in which the middle class is large, and stronger if possible than both the other classes, or at any rate than either singly; for the addition of the middle class turns the scale, and prevents either of the extremes from being dominant … and where the middle class is large, there are least likely to be factions and dissensions. … And democracies are safer and more permanent than oligarchies, because they have a middle class which is more numerous and has a greater share in the government; for when there is no middle class, and the poor greatly exceed in number, troubles arise and the state soon comes to an end.
—Aristotle, 350 BCEIndia's biggest strength is its new middle class.
—Narendra Modi, 2019The ‘middle class’ is analysed in a range of different global contexts. The term often refers to a category of people who are somewhere near the middle of an imaginary social spectrum along which income, property, wealth and occupational opportunities are distributed. In the context of developing countries, or countries experiencing rapid economic growth, the middle class holds centre stage in economic and public discourse: its size is often used as an important developmental proxy, a litmus test for socio-economic growth, and an indication of political stability in the face of globalisation (Birdsall, Graham and Pettinato, 2000). In the field of development studies, it is commonly assumed that countries with larger middle classes are able to reach a consensus on public goods and economic development planning and therefore tend to enjoy faster economic growth, higher national income and better public services. In contrast, societies with polarised economic classes incline to focus their economic planning on distribution and redistribution between polarised factions that alternate in power (Easterly, 2001). In a comprehensive examination of the middle classes in East Asia and Latin America, Diane Davis demonstrates a direct relation between the size of the middle class and the state's economic and development planning, and notes that the middle class envisages its economic and political interests as differentiated from the interests of capitalists and of labourers.
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- Contested CapitalRural Middle Classes in India, pp. 11 - 40Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020