ABSTRACT
In recent years, the middle class has been a focus of much critical commentary across the world. Countries such as India, Brazil, China and South Africa have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of people who have risen out of poverty in recent years. This is a significant development in as much as it represents a large number of people who are no longer poor, or at least less vulnerable to economic shocks. The increasing size of the new middle class has led researchers and policy makers to ask questions about the role of these classes in promoting democracy, strengthening institutions and encouraging inclusiveness. The politics of the new middle class has also been extensively commented upon. In Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil and India, recent protests have been led not by the poor, but by the middle class, by people with higher than average incomes (Fukuyama 2012). The business world too, has been excited about the rise of a ‘global middle class’ for a little over a decade now. A Goldman Sachs report indicated that spending by the world’s middle three quintiles will rise from the current 31 per cent to around 50 per cent of the world’s income by 2050 (Wilson and Dragusanu, 2008). Among commentators of the new middle class in India, it is common to connect the rise of the new middle class with the onset of the process of economic reforms in 1991 (Fernandes 2006). After the economic reforms, the Indian economy opened out substantially, increasingly trading with the rest of the world. Exports of services, in particular offshoring services, have been an important component of India’s economic policy post-liberalization.
