Indian Middle Class
By: Jodhka, Surinder S.
Publisher: New Delhi Oxford University Press 2016Description: xxiii, 232p.ISBN: 9780199466795.Subject(s): Middle Class -- Community Development -- Transformation -- IndiaDDC classification: 305.550954 Summary: Who exactly are the middle classes in India? What role do they play in contemporary Indian politics and society, and what are their historical and cultural moorings? The authors of this volume argue that the middle class has largely been understood as an ‘income/ economic category’, but the term has a broader social and conceptual history, globally as well as in India. To begin with, the middle class is not a homogeneous category but is shaped by specific colonial and post-colonial experiences and is differentiated by caste, ethnicity, region, religion, and gender locations. These socio-economic differentiations shape its politics and culture and become the basis of internal conflicts, contestations, and divergent political worldviews. The authors demonstrate how the middle class has acquired a certain legitimacy to speak on behalf of the society as a whole, despite its politics being inherently exclusionary, as it tries to protect its own interests. Further, perceived as an aspirational category, the middle class has a seductive charm for the lower classes, who struggle to shift to this ever elusive social location.Item type | Current location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
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Books | NASSDOC Library | 305.550954 JOD-I (Browse shelf) | Available | 50127 |
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305.550954 BEI- Being middle-class in India: a way of life | 305.550954 BEY- Beyond consumption: | 305.550954 GIL-W Within the limits | 305.550954 JOD-I Indian Middle Class | 305.550954081 NEW- New middle class in India and Brazil | 305.5509542 SHU-; SL1 Nagariy privesh me sahabhagita ke samajik ayama: Varanasi nagar ke madhyam varagiy vyaktiyo par adharit ek samajshastriy adhyayan | 305.55095475 LOB-; Thakors of North Gujarat: a caste in th village and the region |
Who exactly are the middle classes in India? What role do they play in contemporary Indian politics and society, and what are their historical and cultural moorings? The authors of this volume argue that the middle class has largely been understood as an ‘income/ economic category’, but the term has a broader social and conceptual history, globally as well as in India.
To begin with, the middle class is not a homogeneous category but is shaped by specific colonial and post-colonial experiences and is differentiated by caste, ethnicity, region, religion, and gender locations. These socio-economic differentiations shape its politics and culture and become the basis of internal conflicts, contestations, and divergent political worldviews. The authors demonstrate how the middle class has acquired a certain legitimacy to speak on behalf of the society as a whole, despite its politics being inherently exclusionary, as it tries to protect its own interests. Further, perceived as an aspirational category, the middle class has a seductive charm for the lower classes, who struggle to shift to this ever elusive social location.
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