Thesis (doctoral)--Universitetet i Lund, 1996. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement and English abstract inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 396-417) and index.

Over the twentieth century advanced economies have seen an economic and social development process which was build upon the consolidation of a strong middle class. Yet, recent decades have seen an increase in wealth and income inequality, reaching levels not seen since before the Second World War. This thesis explore some of the these issues in two parts. The focus of the first part of the thesis is on the role of education and technology in the rise of the middle class. By means of an overlapping generations model with endogenous growth, I study the conditions that enable a society to transit from underdevelopment to development. The model in place reproduces a Kuznets curve, which is deemed an important empirical feature of the history of advanced economies. The second part focuses on the fall of the middle class, by studying the effect of technology and skills in job polarisation - i.e. the fall in employment in middle-skill occupations. The approach is both theoretical and empirical. A sorting model based on tasks is developed and adapted to study polarisation. Central to this model are the distributions of skills that workers have. Thus, a complete chapter is dedicated to characterise these ability distributions, using longitudinal data from the UK for 1991-2008 in an econometric model based on the so-called Mincer equation. The estimated distributions - positive skewed - are used to calibrate the sorting model. Then, this model is used to identify the nature of the technological process affecting the UK economy over the selected period of study. Simple counterfactual exercises shed light on the strong effect of technical progress on both polarisation and inequality. In contrast, the role of change in skills is negligible. The overall conclusion is that the nature of technological change is essential in defining distributional outcomes: whilst technology can enable the rise to a strong middle class, it can also undermine it.

This thesis examines forms of activism among middle-class youth in the context of neoliberal urban change in Delhi. The research is set within four interdisciplinary bodies of literature reflecting the experiences of young activists: middle-class identity, everyday politics and new modalities of social action, intersectionality, and active citizenship. What emerges from each of these bodies is a view to the contradictory politics of the young middle-class. Focusing on new forms of social action at the community level, this thesis uses an expansive definition of both activism and middle-class to encompass a range of activities from social enterprise, to technology-enabled mobilization around social issues, to political campaigning among India’s expanding middle-class. The research is framed within young peoples' period of waiting: for full adulthood, marriage, and importantly, full-time employment. Grounded in qualitative fieldwork, this thesis concentrates on young people, aged 18 to 30, in the middle-class with putatively distinct activist practices. Young people in Delhi are engaged in various activities that loosely correspond to different ideals of social justice or social work. I illustrate the innate differences in these ideals, their motivations, and methods. I analyze the limitations of different activist projects and the extent to which the social action is constructive—in the sense of enhancing the capabilities of marginalized sections of society and promoting inclusivity. The young people at the core of this project contend to be anti-politics, yet they are quite political. Additionally, the interlocutors show contempt for the state and the commercial interests of the market but deploy and rely on strategies from both. My examination gives prominence to the improvised nature of young people's lives and the decisions they make at key life stages. Activation of the self, and actualization for the researched youth, manifests in entrepreneurial activity, community work short of politics, and the negotiation of class, caste, and gender on an everyday basis. This thesis argues for more scholarly attention to the everyday lives of middle-class youth that can offer insights into this key demographic and connect individual decisions to broader social and political change.

My central argument is that mainstream British cinema of the 1951 – 1965 period marked the end of the paternalism, as exemplified by a professional ‘officer class’, as consumerism gradually came to be perceived as the norm as opposed to a post-war enemy. The starting point is 1951, the year of the Conservative victory in the General Election and a time which most films were still locally funded. The closing point is 1965, by which point the vast majority of British films were funded by the USA and often featured a youthful and proudly affluent hero. Thus, this fourteen year describes how British cinema moved away from the People as Hero guided by middle class professionals in the face of consumerism. Over the course of this work, I will analyse the creation of the archetypes of post-war films and detail how the impact of consumerism and increased Hollywood involvement in the UK film industry affected their personae. However, parallel with this apparently linear process were those films that questioned or attacked the wartime consensus model. As memories of the war receded, and the Rank/ABPC studio model collapsed, there was an increasing sense of deracination across a variety of popular British cinematic genres. From the beginning of our period there is a number films that infer that the “Myth of the Blitz”, as developed in a cinematic sense, was just that and our period ends with films that convey a sense of a fragmenting society.

This thesis investigates discourses surrounding upper and middle class Afrikaner women living in Johannesburg during the years 1948, 1949 and 1958. It uses magazines aimed at upper and middle class women as primary sources and also makes use of interviews with upper and middle class women who lived in Johannesburg during 1948. 1949 and 1958. The thesis uses women's magazines. educational magazines and church magazines, as well as the Vrou en Moeder magazine, mouthpiece of the Suid Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie. Conclusions are drawn about the status and role of Afrikaner middle class women in society, as well as the value systems operating at the time. Differences in discourse and changes over time are accounted for. The thesis also draws attention to the importance of using gender as an historical category, and attempts to broaden the method of history by utilising discourse analysis. / History

This thesis is an intimate portrait of kinship, personhood, and social mobility in the central Philippines. Through the story of a sibling set that came of age after the Second World War, their kin, and neighbours, it explores why and how upward mobility was aspired for, its consequences, and the ways in which such an achievement are recalled and narrated. The chapters examine the manifold and, at times, contradictory emotions that surrounded journeys of social mobility, whilst historicising the very selves and relations within which such narratives and emotions become embedded. Central to this account is siblingship, as viewed from later life, and in relation to filiation, the pursuit of personal autonomy through gendered educational and professional fields, and marriage and family formation. Although expectations of solidarity and life-long, and even transgenerational, support saturated ties of siblingship, conflicts between siblings were also deemed unsurprising, especially in adulthood, after marriage, and most especially, after the death of their parents. Whilst solidarity amongst siblings was seen as fundamental to achieving middle-classness, the pursuit of upward mobility in some cases heightened the potential for hierarchy, inequality, gendered differences, and enmity implied by siblingship, whilst mitigating and reversing it in others. Upward mobility had implications too for the succeeding generation, as conflicts and unequal life chances were passed on by parents to their children, sibling set sizes became smaller, and cousins became geographically distant from one another. Rooted in the anthropology of Southeast Asia and the Philippines, this thesis speaks to broader concerns about how kinship and personhood unfold and are transformed over time, how persons and their relations reflect, absorb, and refract broader societal shifts, and how seemingly ordinary, intimate, and private aspects of life have wider reverberations.

This thesis, set against the background of accounts of globalisation, aims to figure out the consumer orientation of the middle class in contemporary China, in particular how the new elements in consumer orientation operate in the Chinese context. It focuses on the contemporary middle class, including professionals, managers, business-owners and civil servants, and on the metropolitan cities, because these are the two most important factors in the rise of consumer culture in China. Data come from the China General Social Survey of 2003 and 30 interviews with middle class people in Beijing carried out in 2008. The quantitative analysis is concerned with characteristics of the middle class in the metropolitan cities and their participation in consumption practices. Qualitative analysis provides a comprehensive analysis of the consumption patterns and the consumer orientations of 30 adults and considers subjective interpretations in specific contexts. The focus is the consumption patterns from everyday consumption, taste and material culture, and the findings are interpreted in relation to major theories in the sociology of consumption. In order to understand consumption patterns, this dissertation seeks accounts of consumer orientations: the distinct or particular reasons for purchasing and using certain material goods and services. Consumption patterns are also explained against the background of globalization, and in relation to the essential features of Chinese culture, social changes and social conventions. The analysis draws attention particularly to the justifications of tastes by the Chinese middle class and exposes their concomitant anxieties and ambivalence. It is shown that pursuit of pleasure, tempered with pursuit of comfort, is a significant form of aesthetic justification; and living within one's means, i.e. keeping a balance between expenditure and income, is the main moral justification. The orientation to personal pleasure and comfort is shaped by social conventions, traditional values and the metropolitan context. Consumer sovereignty, as opposed to social discipline and authority, becomes a force. Despite anxieties and ambivalence, the interviewees generally show satisfaction and confidence with their consumption. The findings challenge the stereotype of the Chinese 'new rich' and the one-dimensional pictures of tendencies towards either conspicuous display or frugality.

Saving is critical for the economic development of a country and can insulate it from unwanted inflation and financial instability as a result of international exposure. South Africa is currently experiencing low savings rates and many South Africans have difficulty servicing their debts. Black Africans form the majority in South Africa and they are therefore of critical importance with regard to saving and this country’s ability to finance future projects. It can be argued that the White South African population is becoming older and will therefore begin to withdraw its savings. A literature review has been undertaken to distil the determinants of saving in general and to observe the applicability of these determinants to Black middle class South Africans. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the determinants of household savings of the Black middle class, with reference to questionnaires and quantitative answers from the respondents in four of South Africa’s provinces. The key findings of the research indicate that the South African Black middle class is financially illiterate and not disciplined with regard to budgeting. They show a high dependency ratio, and the need for instant gratification. In addition, people are hindered by cultural norms that inhibit them from discussing theirSaving is critical for the economic development of a country and can insulate it from unwanted inflation and financial instability as a result of international exposure. South Africa is currently experiencing low savings rates and many South Africans have difficulty servicing their debts. Black Africans form the majority in South Africa and they are therefore of critical importance with regard to saving and this country’s ability to finance future projects. It can be argued that the White South African population is becoming older and will therefore begin to withdraw its savings. A literature review has been undertaken to distil the determinants of saving in general and to observe the applicability of these determinants to Black middle class South Africans. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the determinants of household savings of the Black middle class, with reference to questionnaires and quantitative answers from the respondents in four of South Africa’s provinces. The key findings of the research indicate that the South African Black middle class is financially illiterate and not disciplined with regard to budgeting. They show a high dependency ratio, and the need for instant gratification. In addition, people are hindered by cultural norms that inhibit them from discussing their finances. These findings can be traced back to this class’s previous exclusion from the main economy. The recommended outcome of this paper indicates that the South African government should implement budgeting as part of the curriculum in primary and high schools. People leaving employment before retirement should not be allowed to cash out more than 50% of their pension fund, and the private sector should be involved in educating its employees with regard to budgeting and the benefits of saving, while creating an environment that facilitates access to financial providers. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This paper investigates a number of psychological factors that influence the South African Black middle class to engage in bandwagon consumption when purchasing luxury motor vehicles. The South African Black middle class has been receiving attention in consumer markets, especially from luxury brand houses looking at emerging markets for growth. This study was designed to measure the impact of the self-concept, susceptibility to normative influence, propensity to seek status and the need for uniqueness on the propensity to engage in bandwagon consumption behaviour. An online survey of 184 people identified as Black middle class, provided the data which was analysed using the PLS Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique. The results of the model confirmed the presence of bandwagon luxury motor vehicle consumption among this market segment. It was also found that the bandwagon consumption behaviour occurs in spite of the self-concept and need for uniqueness. Status consumption and susceptibility to normative influence were confirmed as antecedents to the bandwagon consumption. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

This dissertation explores the impact of the permanent chautauqua movement in American culture, especially in the period from 1874 to 1935. It argues that chautauquas served as sites for the production of middle-class culture and the renegotiation of relationships among class, gender, race, and religion. Permanent chautauquas were popular vacation resorts throughout the United States, beginning with the founding of the Chautauqua Sunday School Assembly in upstate New York and increasing in number to about two hundred in 1900. They were associations of cottages offering community programs that were educational, religious, and entertaining. This dissertation examines the programs that the chautauquas planned, arguing that they espoused a burgeoning form of culture, one that supported a perceived morality and middle-class values like dedication to family, temperance, education, patriotism, piety, and fighting against temptation to sin. Particular emphasis is placed on how performance at permanent chautauquas led to new expectations of gender, class, race, and religion. Women had opportunities for leadership, were able to blur lines between public and private spheres, and could act out different expectations of their gender while on the grounds. While most chautauquans were middle class, attending a chautauqua meant that one's class was not important and all could enjoy a middle-class vacation. While the line between whites and non-whites remained stable, non-whites were granted performance opportunities at chautauquas that they might not have had; other non-whites participated as members of the work force that allowed white chautauquans the leisure they expected. Because chautauquas were Protestant communities, religion underlaid all activities on the grounds, redefining expectations of how religion and entertainment could be combined. Taken together, these renegotiations of identity at chautauquas impacted a broader American culture. This dissertation examines the performances at chautauqua, in particular the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle and their Recognition Day graduation ceremony; historical pageantry; professional performers who visited as part of the circuit chautauquas; and early film exhibition. It places them in a broader American performance context and argues that permanent chautauquas played a role in their development and popularity. It draws upon archival records from the chautauquas to outline the kinds of programming presented. Additionally, the research is supported by anecdotal evidence from a series of oral history interviews conducted with individuals who recall their childhoods at permanent chautauquas.