ABSTRACT
This chapter explores social class — specifically the characteristics and behaviours of the middle classes in England and India — against the backdrop of a globalising world. In order to give some form and colour to ‘locally specific iterations’ it interrogates class-based attitudes, and specifically, the practices, priorities and preoccupations of the middle classes in India and England with regard to education. The chapter focuses on the definitions of the middle classes in use in both countries, their prioritising of education and the results of that prioritising on the character and functioning of school systems in England and India, with particular reference to parental choice of school. It also focuses on the ways in which parents seek to develop and support their child’s skills and abilities in order to ‘make up’ the middle-class child. The research on school choice presents a clear picture of opportunities shaped by differential parental resources, attitudes and values.
