Title data
Scharrer, Tabea ; O'Kane, David ; Kroeker, Lena:
Introduction : Africa’s Middle Classes in Critical Perspective.
In: Kroeker, Lena ; O'Kane, David ; Scharrer, Tabea
(ed.):
Middle Classes in Africa : Changing Lives and Conceptual Challenges. -
Cham
: Palgrave Macmillan
,
2018
. - pp. 1-31
ISBN 978-3-319-62148-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62148-7_1
Project information
Project title: |
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Project financing: |
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung |
Abstract in another language
In this introductory chapter, the editors dissect the growing interest in the rise of middle classes in Africa. The apparently healthier rates of economic growth that are associated with these (reputed) classes seem to be an omen of a brighter economic and political future in Africa.
For the editors of this volume, the middle class in Africa is an ‘overloaded’ class, overloaded with inflated expectations and unexamined assumptions.
The editors question these assumptions in three dimensions: the political, the economic, and the dimension of lifestyle, the latter focusing on urbanization, education, and demographic change. They argue that in the continent today there is not one single ‘African middle class’ but
rather a plurality of ‘middle classes’. The four sections of this volume (‘Rethinking Concepts of Middle Classes in Africa’, ‘the Recurring Rise and Return of Middle Classes in Africa’, ‘The Political Consequences of the Middle Classes’, and ‘the Formation of Interconnections and 'Interdependencies’) are introduced, and their contributions to an improved understanding of Africa’s diverse middle classes are outlined.
Further data
Item Type: | Article in a book |
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Refereed: | Yes |
Keywords: | Middle Classes; Africa; Sociology of Class; social differentiation |
Institutions of the University: | Research Institutions > Research Centres > Institute of African Studies - IAS > Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies - BAAAS Research Institutions Research Institutions > Research Centres Research Institutions > Research Centres > Institute of African Studies - IAS |
Result of work at the UBT: | Yes |
DDC Subjects: | 300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology 300 Social sciences > 310 Statistics 300 Social sciences > 320 Political science 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics 300 Social sciences > 360 Social problems, social services 300 Social sciences > 370 Education 300 Social sciences > 390 Customs, etiquette, folklore |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jan 2019 10:19 |
Last Modified: | 11 Feb 2022 10:30 |
URI: | https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/46780 |