The Middle Class in Contemporary South Africa: Comparing Rival Approaches

Abstract

In the light of the economic, political and social significance of the middle class for South Africa's emerging democracy, we critically examine contrasting conceptualisa-tions of social class. We compare four rival approaches to empirical estimation of class: an occupational skill measure, a vulnerability indictor, an income polarisation approach and subjective social status.There is considerable variation in who is classified as middle class based on the definition that is employed and, in particular, a marked difference between subjective and objective notions of social class. We caution against overoptimistic predictions based on the growth of the black middle class. While the surge in the black middle class is expected to help dismantle the association between race and class in South Africa, the analysis suggests that notions of identity may adjust more slowly to these new realities and consequently, racial integration and social cohesion may emerge with a substantial lag.

Matching Concepts With Measurement: Who Belongs to Africa's Middle Class?

“…Consequently, with the exception of Visagie and Posel () and Burger et al . () for South Africa, there are no robustness tests of different measures across a range of African countries.…”

“…The importance of conceptual clarity is not simply an intellectual exercise. In fact, Burger et al . (2014b) show how different concepts, and in turn, measurements, result in very different conclusions, at least in the South African context, about how large the middle class has become.…”

Worlds apart: an investigation of South Africa’s established and emerging middle class consumers

“…The widened impact of middle class consumer culture is already observable by the eddying interest and discussion it elicits among other domains impacted by their buyer behavior, for example, in the field of economics (Visagie, 2013), the area of public policy (Ravallion, 2010) and in political science and democracy studies (Rivero et al , 2003; Southall, 2004). Despite the contemporary interest in the middle class, the debate around the concept and definition of what constitutes middle class has evolved much since its mostly sociological genesis (Burger et al , 2014; López-Calva and Ortiz-Juárez, 2014).…”

“…Extant literature chiefly relies on a Marxist or Weberian approach to conceptually analyze the social structure of class. The Marxist approach explores the social-psychological foundations of class awareness, delineating into two main social classes consisting of those with the means of production (the upper class bourgeoisie) and those without (the proletariat lower class) (Burger et al , 2014; Rivero et al , 2003). Marx defined the middle class as the transitional petty bourgeoisie, who were able to control (but not yet necessarily own) the means of production (Burger et al , 2014).…”

Promoting emergent literacy in under-served preschools using environmental print

“…Furthermore, the aftermath of apartheid and its effects that the majority of South Africans continue to face implies that socioeconomic status is multi-dimensional. Thus, describing the middle socioeconomic class can become complex, as it depends on the perspective and interpretation of the reader (Burger, Steenekamp, Zoch, & Van der Berg, 2014;Schotte, Zizzamia, & Leibbrandt, 2017;Schutte, 2018). Perspective taking, often makes it challenging to determine the potential influence of socioeconomic status on spoken language and literacy development in the South African context.…”