South Africa's Emergent Middle Class

Grace Khunou

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781138306363
• eBook ISBN: 9781317336761
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Human Geography

This book is drawn from diverse studies that grapple with Black Middle Class experiences in contemporary and historical South Africa. The chapters present research from diverse disciplines, and tackle issues related to being black and middle class, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Like many other social phenomena, the black middle class concept is seen as complex and not easy to pin down. As a result, conceptualizations from these chapters are dynamic and relevant for understanding the position of the black middle class in contemporary South African society. An interesting dynamic explored by contributors is the critical engagement with the usually reductionist notions of black middle class experiences as ahistorical, homogenous experiences of a group of conspicuous consumers. These limiting notions are unpacked and repositioned in how the book is structured. This book was published as a special issue of Development Southern Africa.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: South Africa’s emergent middle class
• 1. Growth of the middle class: Two perspectives that matter for policy
• 2. The emergent middle class in contemporary South Africa: Examining and comparing rival approaches
• 3. Understanding consumption patterns of the established and emerging South African black middle class
• 4. Life chances and class: Estimating inequality of opportunity for children and adolescents in South Africa
• 5. Rethinking Bundy: Land and the black middle class – accumulation beyond the peasantry
• 6. What middle class? The shifting and dynamic nature of class position
• 7. ‘Growing up’ and ‘moving up’: Metaphors that legitimise upward social mobility in Soweto
• 8. Food, malls and the politics of consumption: South Africa’s new middle class
• Index