The Middle Class in Neo-Urban India: Space, Class and Distinction

This book critically examines the new middle class and the emergence of neo-urban spaces in India within the context of rapid urbanisation and changing socio-spatial dynamics in urban areas in the country.

It looks at class as a socio-spatial category where class distinction is tied to and manifests itself through the space of the city. With a detailed ethnographic study of the national capital region of Delhi, especially Gurugram, it explores themes such as class subjectivity, morality and social beliefs; life inside gated enclaves; family and everyday practices of class reproduction; and the process of othering and exclusivity, among others. Class identity, vulnerability and hierarchy influence the actions and motivations of the middle class. The author studies the nuances and socio-political fractures stemming from the complex dynamic of class, caste, religion and gender that manifest in these neo-urban spaces and how these shape the city and community.

Rich in empirical resources, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of sociology, political sociology, ethnography, urban sociology, urban studies and South Asian studies.

Smriti Singh is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) and associated with The Urban Research Lab at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology–Delhi (IIITD), India. She has earned her doctorate from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. She is a Fulbright-Nehru scholar (2015–2016). Her research focuses on questions of Urban space, community, and identity.