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Unit 14: Emergence of Middle Class System

A large peasantry is found to exist mainly in developing countries like India. Peasantry consists Notes
of groups of people engaged in agriculture and allied activities. The other three classes are found
in industrialised and industrialising societies. The upper class consists of the owners of wealth or
employers who own or directly control productive resources, e.g., the wealthy and the industrialists.
The middle class consists mostly of white-collar workers and professionals. The working class is
comprised of those who are engaged in blue-collar or manual jobs.

14.1 Concept of the Middle Class

The middle class are any class in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic
terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-
economically between the working-class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle–class commonly
refers to either the bourgeoisie before or during capitalism, or some emergent new class within
capitalism. In common parlance, middle-class refers to a set of culturally distinct contemporary
Western cultures that emphasize consumerism and property ownership within capitalism.
In Marxism, which defines social classes according to their relationship with the means of
production, the middle class is broadly synonymous with the bourgeoisie. Historically, under
feudalism, the bourgeoisie were the urban merchant and professional class who stood between
the aristocracy and the proletariat, and were thus the “middle-class” according to the Marxist
social schema. Under capitalism, the bourgeoisie are taken to be the ruling class, as the group that
owns and controls capital. As such, some Marxists specify the petite bourgeoisie-owners of small
property who may not employ wage labour-as the “middle-class” between the ruling and working
classes.
Sociologists have given three-fold classification of classes which consists of upper–class, middle-
class and lower-class. Sorokin has spoken of three major types of class stratification-they are
economic, political and occupational classes. Lloyd Warner shows how class distinctions contribute
to social stability. Veblen analyzed the consumption pattern of the rich-class by the concept of
conspicuous consumption. Warner has classified classes into six types-upper-upper class, upper-
middle class, upper-lower class, lower-upper class, the lower middle class and lower class. Anthony
Giddens’s three class model is the upper, middle and lower (working) class.
Middle Class in India

The concept of middle class, as the name suggests refers to the middle stratum of the hierarchy but
this concept is not restricted to locate the stratum in the hierarchical order. But it have far reaching
consequences too. This concept developed in India in response to industrial developments here.
Middle class forms a composite intermediate layer with a common life-style and behavioural
pattern. They stood for certain liberal democratic values. Stability of political democratization and
social mobility are identified with middle class. In India middle class has contributed a lot for the
political modernization, nation building and economic development of our country in post
independence period. Thus we need to understand the Indian Middle class and their importance.
Rise of Middle Classes in India during the British Rule
The British rule brought significant changes in the economy and polity of our country ownership
right on land was introduced by the Britishers so land could become a private property. They
introduced different land revenue systems and adopted policies like Zamindari system, Rayotwari
and permanent settlement system. This created the landed middle class i.e. self- cultivating middle
class. B.B. Mishra, a famous historian pointed out that the middle class emerged basically as a
result of economic and technological change and were mostly engaged in trade and industry in
the west but in India they emerged as a consequence of changes in the system of law and public
administration than in economic development and they mainly belonged to the learned profession.

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