O discurso oficial sustenta que o modelo de desenvolvimento brasileiro da última década baseia-se no binômio investimento em infraestrutura e expansão do mercado de massa (DWECK, CHAVES e CHERNAVSKY, 2013). Por sua vez, a ampliação do mercado consumidor no país ocorreu a partir da incorporação de novos consumidores, base do processo difundido como o surgimento de uma suposta nova classe média. Essa chamada classe é, na realidade, um estrato de renda, definido a partir de limites financeiros superiores e inferiores estabelecidos arbitrariamente para criar uma imagem positiva do país, um movimento típico da ciência da ocultação, aquela que tenta encobrir os problemas históricos do subdesenvolvimento. Ao logo deste ensaio, demonstro as inconsistências na lógica interna que sustenta o conceito de nova classe média, rejeitando sua organização. Em seu lugar, proponho outro olhar teórico para o fenômeno, baseado nas categorias dialética do consumo, a partir de Álvaro Vieira Pinto (2008), e superexploração do trabalho, parte da Teoria Marxista da Dependência (TMD), conforme postulada por Ruy Mauro Marini (1991a). Esse procedimento permite analisar o aumento do consumo em sua articulação com as classes sociais, o trabalho e a produção, relações inseridas nas contradições do capitalismo dependente. Portanto, nesta Tese defendo o argumento de que a estratégia de expansão mercado de massa oculta, através do conceito de nova classe média, as contradições do capitalismo dependente e renova a superexploração do trabalho no consumo de não-consumidores. / Official discourse sustatins that the brazilian development model in the last decade is based on the binomial: investments in infrastructure and mass-market expansion. My point of departure in this Thesis is the growth of the consumer market originated in the incorporation of new consumers, the base of the process known as the emergence of the Brazilian new middle class. This so called class is, in fact, an income stratum, defined by superior and inferior financial limits arbitrarily established to create a positive image of the country, a typical movement of the occultation science, one that tries to uncover underdevelopment historical problems. Throughout this research, I demonstrate the inconsistencies in the internal logic that sustains the concept of new middle class, rejecting it. Instead, I propose another theoretical approach, based on the categories dialectics of consumption, by Álvaro Vieira Pinto (2008), and overexploitation of labor, by Ruy Mauro Marini (1991a). This procedure allows analyzing the increase in consumption in its articulation to the categories of social classes, labor and production, relations merged in the contradictions of the dependent capitalism. Eventually, I defend the following argument in this Thesis: the strategy that organizes the expansion of mass-market hides, behind the new middle class concept, the contradictions of the dependent capitalism and renews the non-consumers overexploitation of labor.

In the two decades between 1970 and 1990, hundreds of people passed through the ALP branches of Leichhardt Municipality. These were predominantly members of what this thesis calls a 'middle class Left', employed in professions and para-professions like teaching or the public service and motivated, to one degree or another, by the social movements and politics of the late 1960's and early 1970's. This is a social history incorporating the life histories of a selection of these people. It is set against the backdrop of conflicts with incumbent, conservative, working class-based political machines and the political climate of the times. The thesis is in four parts. Part I, the introduction, establishes the point of view of the writer as it shapes what is also a 'participant history'. In this context, and that of the oral history interviews, the introduction addresses the relationship between memory and history. Parts II and III are the body of the thesis and each is lead by a 'photo-essay', recognising the complimentary importance of a visual narrative. Part II sets out the broad political topography of the 1970's and early 1980's. Chapter one describes the middle-classing of the ALP in Leichhardt Municipality, set against a review of the principal literature. It then moves through chapters two to four to examine the three loci of middle-classing: Annandale, Balmain and Glebe. Part III moves on into the 1980's when the middle class Left 'takes power'. It examines, in chapter five, the emerging, sharp, divisions among the Left on Leichhardt Council and in the contests for federal and state parliamentary seats. Chapter six examines the deepening of these divisions in the mid to late 1980's, concluding with the climactic struggle over the Mort Bay public housing project. Chapter seven looks at the diaspora of the Labor Left in Leichhardt at the end of the 1980's as the branch membership declined and many sought out political alternatives to the ALP. Part IV brings the thesis to its conclusion, focussing on the complexities and ambiguities of the middle class Left and drawing out the main socio-political themes of the two decades.

The aim is to illustrate the opinion former Torsten Tegnér’s view of sport, culture and society, the nature of the influence he exerted primarily through his own professional magazine, Idrottsbladet, a liberal-conservative sports journalist’s attitude in confrontation with other social attitudes and some questions of principle and debates that were topical during the period within Swedish sport. Five thematic chapters demonstrate how Tegnér reacted to developments within sport that were due to social changes. Above all, the research demonstrates that the values he wished to communicate principally dealt with a healthy soul in a healthy body for the benefit and happiness of both the individual and society. Secondly, he wished to convey the culture of the middle classes. In the background, the concept of freedom was a constant overarching ideology. His reactions to the developments can be seen in the light of his passion for sport as beneficial, his family’s combination of liberalism and respect for traditions and their expectations of him, his understanding of democracy and a touch of post-Romanticism. His passion for freedom led to his political involvement against Nazism and Communism in particular. Tegnér’s means of influencing are viewed from a power perspective. As a well-qualified intellectual, by means of a significant symbolic capital, with Idrottsbladet’s position and as ‘a one-man civic educator’, he was one of those who, in the opinion of the philosopher Antonio Gramsci, were particularly important in a social power game. It is particularly interesting that his circle of readers seems to have overwhelmingly consisted of working-class youngsters.

With the postmodern prevalence of shopping as both a recreational and subsistence activity, social class identity is increasingly constituted around access to the landscape of consumption. U.S. middle-class identity is normalized in commercial spaces and the exclusion of the lower-class from these spaces perpetuates wider social disparities. For socially aware members of the middle-class, distinction may be achieved by selectively shopping throughout the metropolitan area with the goal of influencing corporate practices. Yet this distinction is not without cost as middle-class shoppers are prime targets of identity marketing schemes and of the neoliberal regime’s construction of consent. Through 15 self-proclaimed middle-class shoppers’ reported use of Atlanta’s postmodern landscape of consumption, this study focuses on performances of middle-classness and representations of commercialized spaces with the goal of furthering the anthropological understanding of class identity and urban space as heterogeneous.

Chinese higher education has achieved a remarkable expansion in recent years but few studies have examined the civic perceptions and civic participation of contemporary university students. This study aims to fill the gap in the existing literature by accomplishing four main goals: first, to investigate how students view citizenship, civic issues, and civil society; second, to examine how they participate in civic activities, both on and off campus; third, to understand how their civic attitudes and behaviours are being influenced by society, university and family, also by such factors as formal citizenship education curricula, informal educational experiences and the mass media; and fourth, to analyze the impact of higher education expansion on civil society in China. This study adopted a mixed methods approach, and combined findings from a large-scale national student survey across 12 universities and 34 face to face interviews conducted in 3 selected institutions among the 12 that were surveyed. The conceptual framework drew upon social capital theory and both ecological and cognitive psychological theories to generate two analytic frameworks for analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data. The major findings were: (1) university students demonstrated strong patriotism, and a serious commitment to social justice and civic participation, which was partly the result of the distinctive form of citizenship education they received in the Chinese context; (2) half of the survey participants were found to be inactive participants in civic activities, which showed a disconnect between their civic attitudes and civic behaviours; (3) higher socio-economic status (SES) was associated with more active civic participation; (4) the mass media, especially the Internet was found to have a profound impact on students’ civic perceptions; (5) interview participants in the three qualitative case institutions revealed distinctive patterns of civic engagement, which confirmed the importance of university environment, policy, history and culture on student civic participation and citizenship development. This study has made a significant contribution to the existing literature on citizenship issues in contemporary Chinese universities. It has also added to current knowledge on trends of civil society development and the democratization process in China, from the perspective of university students.

What does it mean to be middle class? The majority of Americans define themselves as members of the middle class, regardless of their wealth. The number of Americans that affiliate with the middle class alludes to the idea that it cannot be defined simply by level of income, number of assets, type of job, etc. The middle class is a lifestyle as much as it is a group of similarly minded people, just as it is a social construct as much as it is an economic construct. Yet as the masses fall away from the elite, and changes continue to reshape the occupational structure of the job market—due to globalization in a technological age; many have begun to question whether or not the middle class—and, by extension, the American way of life—will be able to survive. This thesis analyzes which Americans fall into the category of middle class and why. It observes the possible reasons the middle class is changing from the style portrayed through much of the 19th and 20th centuries. And lastly, this thesis poses possible solutions through public policy initiatives.

Chinese higher education has achieved a remarkable expansion in recent years but few studies have examined the civic perceptions and civic participation of contemporary university students. This study aims to fill the gap in the existing literature by accomplishing four main goals: first, to investigate how students view citizenship, civic issues, and civil society; second, to examine how they participate in civic activities, both on and off campus; third, to understand how their civic attitudes and behaviours are being influenced by society, university and family, also by such factors as formal citizenship education curricula, informal educational experiences and the mass media; and fourth, to analyze the impact of higher education expansion on civil society in China. This study adopted a mixed methods approach, and combined findings from a large-scale national student survey across 12 universities and 34 face to face interviews conducted in 3 selected institutions among the 12 that were surveyed. The conceptual framework drew upon social capital theory and both ecological and cognitive psychological theories to generate two analytic frameworks for analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data. The major findings were: (1) university students demonstrated strong patriotism, and a serious commitment to social justice and civic participation, which was partly the result of the distinctive form of citizenship education they received in the Chinese context; (2) half of the survey participants were found to be inactive participants in civic activities, which showed a disconnect between their civic attitudes and civic behaviours; (3) higher socio-economic status (SES) was associated with more active civic participation; (4) the mass media, especially the Internet was found to have a profound impact on students’ civic perceptions; (5) interview participants in the three qualitative case institutions revealed distinctive patterns of civic engagement, which confirmed the importance of university environment, policy, history and culture on student civic participation and citizenship development. This study has made a significant contribution to the existing literature on citizenship issues in contemporary Chinese universities. It has also added to current knowledge on trends of civil society development and the democratization process in China, from the perspective of university students.

This thesis examines the motivations of the Chinese middle class members to run for District-level people’s congress (DPC) elections in Shenzhen and Beijing in 2003. It is interested in exploring why the middle class members wanted to run for the DPC positions that do not have real political power in China, and how their behavior can influence political change in China. By systematically analyzing the candidates’ campaign speeches and activities, this study reveals that the major motivating factors behind the middle class candidates’ decision to run for the elections were to protect their property interests and their increasing desire to defend political rights. This thesis argues that the campaigners’ actions in Shenzhen and Beijing will affect the democratization process in China.

The aim of this study is to understand the class character of the new middle class,that is defined as white-collar workers through the bulk of the class literature. To achieve this aim, two sets of research questions, operating both on the objective and subjective levels, have been developed. The first set of questions are / &ldquo / What are the objective conditions (such as economic capital, cultural capital,gender/age composition and class background) of the people who belong to the new middle class defined as white-collars according to structural definitions in Ankara? How are those conditions differentiated within this new middle class category?&rdquo / Those questions are tried to be answered by conducting a secondary analysis to an already existing three-generational representative database for Ankara By taking the quantitative analysis as a base, second set of questions that aim to scrutinize how this heterogeneity in terms of economic/cultural capital and class background are reflected on the subjective level, has been developed. Therefore interviews are held with 31 people in Ayranci neighborhood so as to answer to the following questions: &ldquo / How people who belong to the new middle class, defined as white-collars according to structural definitions, experience their class position? and what elements, in what ways affect their class experience/class practices?&rdquo / In the light of the interviews that question the &ldquo / social space of lifestyle&rdquo / &ndash / composed of daily life practices- and &ldquo / social relations&rdquo / &ndash / analyzed by the content and nature of the drawn symbolic boundaries- four new middle class milieus &ndash / which are highly dispersed among the habitus map of Bourdieu- are identified. The overall study highlights how it is problematic to attribute certain values, lifestyles and attitudes, which are the molders of the class experience, to the whole new middle class category that is defined within the occupational structure.

The main objective of this study is to investigate reproduction strategies of upper-middle class group of people in Ankara and their differentiation propensities in the fragmentation process of urban space. Dispositions and everyday life practices of upper-middle group on Bourdieu&rsquo / s approach in the urban space of Ankara are analyzed on the basis of intensive interviews with upper-middle class women. In this sense, special emphasis is placed on this group&rsquo / s close family relations, investment strategies in education, housing and living space strategies.