Description
Book SynopsisThis volume explores the emergence, evolution and definition of the middle class in India. As a class created as the interpreters between the colonial rulers and the millions whom they governed in the pre-Independence era, the Indian middle class has existed in congruence with the state, occupying vital positions in state administration. Since Independence, this middle class underwent major sociological change as they live independent of the state, which affected their social, economic and political position, reaping benefits of liberalisation and globalisation through education and employment.
An otherwise internally differentiated and heterogeneous group, the new Indian middle class often unifies itself to shape socio-political discourse that affects politics and policymaking, from domestic to international affairs. This volume analyses this class phenomenon through a close study of a new metropolitan middle class in India the software professionals, emblematic of the
Table of Contents
Introduction 1. The Class ‘in-between’ 2. Economic Reforms and the New Middle Class 3. Profiling ‘Software Professionals’ 4. Reading the Class Politically 5. New Middle Class Activism. Conclusion: The Making of Consumer Citizen. Bibliography.
