Middle Class in India – Sociological Analysis
Conceptual Understanding
The middle class emerged post-industrialization, forming a structural position between the upper (property-owning) and lower (working) classes. It is heterogeneous, with no fixed boundaries and varied definitions, such as those based on income, occupation, or consumption patterns.
Key Thinkers and Theoretical Perspectives
Max Weber:
- Saw middle class as a positive product of capitalism.
- Signified reduction in poverty and rise of skilled labor.
Bendix and Lipset – Social Mobility in Industrial Society (1959):
- Comparative study in 8 industrial societies confirmed Weber’s views.
- Found rising occupational mobility and affluent workers.
Goldthorpe & Lockwood:
- Spoke about emergence of affluent workers in Britain.
- Middle class earns through sale of both mental and physical labor.
B.B. Mishra – The Indian Middle Class – Their Growth in Modern Times (1978):
- Traced middle class origin in India to British colonial rule, not industrialization.
- British created an intermediary urban class (translators, clerks, traders).
Karl Marx – Theories of Surplus Value (1863):
- Middle class emerges to consume surplus generated by capitalism.
- Acts as a barrier to proletarian revolution.
Erik Olin Wright:
- Middle class is a creation of the ruling class, sharing surplus to justify inequality.
Ralf Dahrendorf:
- Offered three views:
- Middle class as extension of capitalist class.
- Middle class as extension of working class.
- No middle class – only bureaucrats vs. white-collar workers.
David Lockwood:
- Rejected Marxist binaries.
- Argued for a structurally ambivalent middle class – neither capitalist nor proletarian.
Functionalist Perspective:
- Differential occupational rewards explain middle class existence.
Anthony Giddens:
- Proposed three-class model:
- Upper class: owners of means of production.
- Middle class: possessors of educational/technical skills.
- Working class: manual laborers.
- Middle class grows as India transitions to a service-based economy.
Indian Context
Colonial Period:
- Emerged as intermediaries under foreign rule.
- Early middle class was urban, caste-based, but became liberal and secular, leading social reform movements.
Andre Béteille:
- Indian middle class is transitional, not easily defined.
- Criticized European comparisons.
- Characterized by:
- Caste, religion, kinship, not just economy.
- Highly heterogeneous: better viewed as “middle classes” than a single group.
- Post-liberalization, it became occupation-oriented, focusing on non-manual work.
Post-Independence Expansion:
- Driven by:
- Administrative expansion
- Green Revolution
- Transport, cooperatives
- Liberalization and educational opportunities
Rural-Urban Divide:
Yogendra Singh:
- Rural and urban middle classes are ideologically similar but economically distinct.
- Rural middle class rooted in agriculture (declining post-Green Revolution).
Anand Kumar:
- Urban middle class is market-bound.
- Rural middle class is power-bound.
2011 SECC Data:
- Revealed that middle class is not purely urban.
- 20% rural households had motor vehicles, 11% had refrigerators, indicating rising rural consumption.
Key Concepts
- Ambiguity of class boundaries: Middle class is not rigidly defined, both economically and socially.
- Heterogeneity: Varies by caste, region, education, occupation.
- Ideological influence: Drives modernization, social reform, secularism.
- Economic liberalization (post-1991) catalyzed the expansion and diversification of the middle class.
- Middle class in India is not just economic but socio-political, acting as a mediator in democracy (as per Lester Thurow).
