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Middle Classes (Sociology)

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  1. Introduction
  2. Despite copious studies on the middle classes, there is no single, widely held definition of the middle class. Some scholars define the middle class in terms of the relation to the means of production, others in terms of relative incomes, and still others in terms of consumption patterns. A common working definition might include those with incomes in the middle third of the income distribution; who work as upper- or lower-level managers, professionals, or small-business owners; who graduated from a four-year college or university; and whose primary source of wealth is home ownership. The sociological study of the middle classes has a long and varied past and has been driven by both theoretical and empirical concerns. Theoretically, much attention has been given to conceptualizing the historical middle classes in relation to other social classes and also accounting for the emergence of the new middle class in the latter part of the 20th century. Neo-Weberian and neo-Marxist theories of class represent two influential perspectives on the middle class. Both perspectives emphasize the importance of market capacities in shaping life chances and how the middle classes differ from the working class and the upper class on this dimension. Neo-Marxist arguments differ primarily in their additional focus on the relationship to the means of production as a key dimension of the class structure. A third influential approach to studying class structure focuses on the role of tastes, consumption patterns, and cultural boundaries in defining class relations and identifying the middle classes. Empirically, the literature on the middle class addresses the structural forces shaping the emergence of the middle class in different national contexts and how the political, economic, and social trends of the time shape the experiences of the middle class. Since the late 20th century there has been considerable attention given to analyzing the “new middle class” and uncovering in what ways members of this class differ from other classes in terms of political orientations and activities. Other work has focused on how the changing economic landscape of the postindustrial economy has led to economic uncertainty for many members of the middle class, causing an increase in consumer debt, bankruptcies, and downward mobility. The notion of social reproduction and middle-class advantage (vis-à-vis the working class) is a theme running throughout work examining the education system and studies examining religion. Additional topics of research on the middle class include the intersectionality of gender, race, and ethnicity; the importance of geospatial dimensions of space and place; and cross-national comparative work and case studies of various subpopulations and nations.
  3. Textbooks
  4. There are no standard textbooks written exclusively about the middle class. Instructors interested in teaching a course or module on the middle class will generally need to use books dealing with stratification and social class more broadly. For upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses, Grusky 2008 is the volume of choice. For a slightly more accessible collection of articles, see Manza and Sauder 2009. Two standard textbooks on stratification, Kerbo 2009 and Marger 2010, provide sections on the middle class. Alternately, courses could incorporate works that give accessible overviews of important data and analyses while focusing on particular topics. For example, Leicht and Fitzgerald 2007 focuses on the social, economic, and political trends affecting the American middle class, and Perrucci and Wysong 2008 offers an engaging analysis of class and power in the United States.
  5. Grusky, David B., ed. 2008. Social stratification: Class, race, and gender in sociological perspective. 3d ed. Boulder, CO: Westview.
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  7. With more than a hundred reprinted selections, this is the single best place to gain breadth and depth of knowledge on the study of stratification. Part 2 (“Forms and Sources of Inequality”), Part 3 (“The Structure of Contemporary Inequality”), and Part 8 (“The Consequences of Inequality”) are the most relevant selections relating to the middle class. Most appropriate for graduate student use.
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  9. Kerbo, Harold R. 2009. Social stratification and inequality: Class conflict in historical, comparative, and global perspective. 7th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
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  11. This textbook is well suited for use in undergraduate courses on stratification. Includes an entire chapter on the middle and working classes.
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  13. Leicht, Kevin T., and Scott T. Fitzgerald. 2007. Postindustrial peasants: The illusion of middle-class prosperity. Contemporary Social Issues. New York: Worth.
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  15. Accessibly written account of the causes and consequences of the indebted American middle class. Contains analyses of labor markets, macroeconomics, and tax policy. Appropriate for undergraduate courses.
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  17. Manza, Jeff, and Michael Sauder. 2009. Inequality and society: Social science perspectives on social stratification. New York: Norton.
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  19. Similar in breadth to Grusky 2008, this edited volume is pitched more to undergraduate students. The sections “Class Analysis” (chapters 28–30) and “Consequences of Inequality” (chapters 57–61) directly turn attention on the middle class.
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  21. Marger, Martin N. 2010. Social inequality: Patterns and processes. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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  23. This textbook is well suited for use in undergraduate courses on stratification. Includes an entire chapter on the middle class.
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  25. Perrucci, Robert, and Earl Wysong. 2008. The new class society: Goodbye American Dream? 3d ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
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  27. Provides an alternate view of class structure in the United States and details the influence of media and elites in shaping class relations. Well suited for use in the undergraduate classroom.
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  29. Theoretical Perspectives
  30. Multiple classification systems have emerged from neo-Marxist scholars attempting to retain focus on class position as relational and therefore conceptualize the middle class in terms of the new petite bourgeoisie (Poulantzas 1975) and contradictory class locations (Wright 1997). Abercrombie and Urry 1983 provides another approach, rooted in a neo-Marxist tradition, for conceptualizing classes. Jackman and Jackman 1983 augments the neo-Marxist approach by including subjective factors in the definition of class positions. Neo-Weberian works, such as Giddens 1980, locate the middle classes in terms of particular combinations of economic and institutional forces that affect life chances. Cultural approaches (Bourdieu 1986, Lamont 1992, Veblen 1905) seek to expand the basis of class location beyond economic and political dimensions by including consumption patterns, tastes, and attitudes as defining characteristics.
  31. Abercrombie, Nicholas, and John Urry. 1983. Capital, labour, and the middle classes. Controversies in Sociology 15. London: Allen and Unwin.
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  33. Provides a review of Weberian and Marxist conceptions of class and outlines a synthetic approach to conceptualizing the social location of the middle classes based most directly on observations of 20th-century Great Britain.
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  35. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Translated by Richard Nice. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
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  37. Nearly all cultural approaches to examining the middle class start with Bourdieu’s arguments regarding the ways tastes and preferences demarcate class boundaries.
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  39. Giddens, Anthony. 1980. The class structure of the advanced societies. 2d ed. London: Hutchinson.
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  41. Giddens’s body of work does not deal extensively with the middle class; however, his theory of structuration, which attempts to elucidate the dual importance of structure and agency, informs much work on class and the middle classes.
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  43. Jackman, Mary R., and Robert W. Jackman. 1983. Class awareness in the United States. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
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  45. Proposes an approach to conceptualizing social classes that uses economic interests as well as popular conceptions of class that result in graded hierarchies. Combines objective and subjective measures to identify the middle class.
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  47. Lamont, Michèle. 1992. Money, morals, and manners: The culture of the French and American upper-middle class. Morality and Society. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
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  49. An example of cultural analysis that reveals the many subtle ways the expression of tastes functions to create and maintain class distinctions.
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  51. Poulantzas, Nicos. 1975. Classes in contemporary capitalism. Translated by David Fernbach. London: New Left.
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  53. A neo-Marxist approach to conceptualizing class relations.
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  55. Veblen, Thorstein. 1905. The theory of the leisure class: An economic study of institutions. New York: Macmillan.
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  57. Originally published in 1899. This classic text introduced the concept of conspicuous consumption, which has remained popular in both academic and popular accounts of the middle class. The central idea—that the middle and upper classes purchase goods and services to display social status—guides much work on modern consumerism and “keeping up with the Joneses.”
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  59. Wright, Erik Olin. 1997. Class counts: Comparative studies in class analysis. Studies in Marxism and Social Theory. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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  61. This book offers a useful overview of Wright’s conceptions of class relations and comparative work. His neo-Marxist model has continued to be developed and refined in subsequent texts.
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  63. Historical Emergence of the Middle Class
  64. Many studies on the historical emergence of the middle class tend to focus either on providing rich, detailed accounts of the daily lives and labor relations of workers in particular countries, such as England (Gunn 2005, Thompson 1991) and the United States (Blumin 1989), or on developing theoretical propositions regarding the structural determinants of class development based on comparative analyses (Suh 2002). Kocka 1995 uses a narrow definition of the middle class and examines variation across Europe in the emergence and development of this group. Hickox 1995 identifies the political implications of various conceptualizations of the middle class, whereas the edited volume Butler and Savage 1995 offers an empirical and theoretical portrait of the contemporary middle class in the United Kingdom. Vanneman and Cannon 1987 demonstrates that a crucial component of the emergence of classes is the potential for the development of class consciousness.
  65. Blumin, Stuart M. 1989. The emergence of the middle class: Social experience in the American city, 1760–1900. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Modern History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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  67. Written by a historian, this work will be of interest to historically minded sociologists looking for rich, detailed descriptions of 19th-century life.
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  69. Butler, Tim, and Mike Savage, eds. 1995. Social change and the middle classes. London: UCL.
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  71. A collection of twenty original contributions on the nature of the middle classes in contemporary British society and how the change of class position relates to class theory more broadly.
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  73. Gunn, Simon. 2005. Translating Bourdieu: Cultural capital and the English middle class in historical perspective. British Journal of Sociology 56.1: 49–64.
  74. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-4446.2005.00046.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  75. Makes the case for examining cultural elements in addition to political and economic dimensions when conceptualizing class relations and development. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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  77. Hickox, M. S. 1995. The English middle-class debate. British Journal of Sociology 46.2: 311–324.
  78. DOI: 10.2307/591790Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  79. Reviews the conceptions of the 19th-century English middle class, focusing on the relationship between the middle class and aristocracy, in three different waves of scholarship.
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  81. Kocka, Jürgen. 1995. The middle classes in Europe. Journal of Modern History 67.4: 783–806.
  82. DOI: 10.1086/245228Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  83. Compares and contrasts the emergence and development of the middle classes throughout Europe.
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  85. Suh, Doowon. 2002. Middle class formation and class alliance. Social Science History 26.1: 105–137.
  86. DOI: 10.1215/01455532-26-1-105Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  87. Highlights the contingent nature of class formation by identifying four factors that played key roles in the development of the middle class in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and France.
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  89. Thompson, E. P. 1991. The making of the English working class. New York: Penguin.
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  91. Originally published in 1963. In this social history Thompson conceptualizes the working class as a historical social relation that was, during the period studied, largely defined in terms of antagonism with the ruling class. The middle class appears throughout this book in fluctuating roles, aligning sometimes with the working class and at other times with the ruling class.
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  93. Vanneman, Reeve, and Lynn Weber Cannon. 1987. The American perception of class. Labor and Social Change. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press.
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  95. Guided by a Marxist concern for class consciousness, this book sets out to explore how American workers perceive class. In the process of answering this question, the authors reveal the influence of class identification and perceptions on a variety of political and social outcomes.
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  97. The New Class
  98. King and Szelényi 2004 demonstrates that the idea of the new class has a long history, and Larson 1977 provides a framework for thinking about the origins of the new class in the 19th century. More recently the new middle class has been a focal point of research since the decline of Fordist production models, the growth of service industries, and the increase in technological advancements associated with the emerging postindustrial economy in the 1970s (Bell 1976). These developments required reformulation of the classic models to incorporate the differences arising within the middle class. Specifically, this new model separates (1) managers, office workers, and administrators and (2) professional and technical “knowledge workers.” Some have argued that this second group, referred to as the professional-managerial class (PMC) in Ehrenreich and Ehrenreich 1979, may play a key role in broader class struggles (Burris 1986, Gouldner 1979) while viewing it as the driving force of economic development and entrepreneurialism (Florida 2002). Exactly what distinguishes the new and the old middle classes is the subject of the edited volume Vidich 1995, whereas Myles and Turegun 1994 reviews theoretical perspectives on class in terms of understanding the new middle class.
  99. Bell, Daniel. 1976. The coming of post-industrial society: A venture in social forecasting. New York: Basic.
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  101. A sweeping treatment of social and economic changes in the 20th century. Links the rise of postindustrial society with the emergence of the new class and the subsequent dominance of the middle class as the defining feature of the new epoch.
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  103. Burris, Val. 1986. The discovery of the new middle class. Theory and Society 15.3: 317–349.
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  105. Provides a critical review of the concept of the new middle class as first developed in pre-1933 Germany and compares the political motivation and arguments of these theorists with contemporary positions on the new middle class. Available online by subscription.
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  107. Ehrenreich, Barbara, and John Ehrenreich. 1979. The professional-managerial class. In Between labor and capital. Edited by Pat Walker, 5–45. Boston: South End.
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  109. An early statement on the PMC that distinguishes among traditional workers, owners, and PMCs based on their relationship to the means of production.
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  111. Florida, Richard. 2002. The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community, and everyday life. New York: Basic Books.
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  113. Focuses on the emergence and economic impact of the “creative class”—a subset of the new class that is engaged in scientific, artistic, and entrepreneurial work that is seen as the driving force of the postindustrial economy. The conceptual argument has gained widespread attention, whereas the empirical evidence has been the subject of debate.
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  115. Gouldner, Alvin W. 1979. The future of intellectuals and the rise of the new class: A frame of reference, theses, conjectures, arguments, and an historical perspective on the role of intellectuals and intelligentsia in the international class contest of the modern era. New York: Seabury.
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  117. Evaluates the potential of intellectuals to be vanguards in broader class struggles. Identifies how the new class garners influence through the cultivation of careful and critical discourse.
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  119. King, Lawrence Peter, and Iván Szelényi. 2004. Theories of the new class: Intellectuals and power. Contradictions 20. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press.
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  121. Offers a review and assessment of new class theorizing since the introduction of the term in the late 1800s. Argues for deeper self-appraisal by intellectuals and new class theorists regarding their role in power relations.
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  123. Larson, Magali Sarfatti. 1977. The rise of professionalism: A sociological analysis. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
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  125. This examination of the rise of professionalism in the United States and England during the early 19th century introduced the concept of professional projects as a way to understand relations among professionals, the market, and the state.
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  127. Myles, John, and Adnan Turegun. 1994. Comparative studies in class structure. Annual Review of Sociology 20:103–124.
  128. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.so.20.080194.000535Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  129. Presents a review of theoretical perspectives on social class and asserts that the dominant approaches are not well suited for the study of postindustrial society. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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  131. Vidich, Arthur J., ed. 1995. The new middle classes: Life-styles, status claims, and political orientations. Main Trends of the Modern World. New York: New York Univ. Press.
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  133. A collection of seventeen reprinted articles and chapters written between the 1920s and the 1980s examining the new middle classes. Includes writings by Val Burris, Anthony Giddens, and C. Wright Mills.
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  135. Lifestyles, Norms, and Values
  136. Mills 1953 drew attention to the attitudes and behaviors of white-collar workers. Since that work, much of the research has focused on how middle-class norms and values are different from those of the lower class. Kohn 1969 identifies the importance of the family in understanding social class. Subsequent research has shown that class-based differences are apparent in differential parenting styles (Lareau 2011, Sherman and Harris 2012) and lifestyles and motivations (Wynne 1998, Zablocki and Kanter 1976). Another branch of this research deals with how members of the middle and working classes define and perceive one another, as seen in Gorman 2000, Lawler 2005, and Surridge 2007.
  137. Gorman, Thomas J. 2000. Cross-class perceptions of social class. Sociological Spectrum 20.1: 93–120.
  138. DOI: 10.1080/027321700280044Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  139. Compares the views of middle- and working-class interview subjects regarding interactions with and perceptions toward members of the other class. Consistent with Richard Sennett and Jonathan Cobb’s classic study of the working class, Hidden Injuries of Class (see Sennett and Cobb 1993, cited under [Downward] Mobility), the findings reveal the hidden injuries of being working class. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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  141. Kohn, Melvin L. 1969. Class and conformity: A study in values. Dorsey Series in Anthropology and Sociology. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.
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  143. A classic early statement on the psychological consequences of social class that asserts that middle-class parents are more likely to emphasize self-direction for their children, whereas working-class parents stress conformity to external authority. Refinements and extensions continue on this work.
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  145. Lareau, Annette. 2011. Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. 2d ed. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
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  147. Originally published in 2003. A seminal statement on class, parenting, and social reproduction that documents differing class-based cultural logics. This edition includes additional material that follows up with the children and parents from the original study, thus providing further insights and nuance.
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  149. Lawler, Stephanie. 2005. Disgusted subjects: The making of middle-class identities. Sociological Review 53.3: 429–446.
  150. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.2005.00560.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  151. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s work (see, e.g., Bourdieu 1986, cited under Theoretical Perspectives), this speculative piece contends that middle-class identities in the United Kingdom are defined by expressions of disgust toward the tastes of the working class.
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  153. Mills, C. Wright. 1953. White collar: The American middle classes. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
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  155. Classic text on white-collar workers in post–World War II America. Presents and critiques the attitudes and experiences of the “white collar man” as the ideal type with particular focus on the contradictory class locations of these workers.
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  157. Sherman, Jennifer, and Elizabeth Harris. 2012. Social class and parenting: Classic debates and new understandings. Sociology Compass 6.1: 60–71.
  158. DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2011.00430.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  159. A review article that assesses competing views on the mechanisms that produce the persistent relationship between social class and parenting style (which in turn influences a variety of child and adult outcomes). The authors divide the literature into structural explanations and cultural explanations and argue for a more synthetic approach. This article would be particularly useful in an undergraduate course.
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  161. Surridge, Paula. 2007. Class belonging: A quantitative exploration of identity and consciousness. British Journal of Sociology 58.2: 207–226.
  162. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-4446.2007.00148.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  163. Using representative survey data, this study maps the social identities of British respondents and reveals the continued prevalence of class identities and how these are related to gender. Reports that regardless of their objective social locations, very few respondents adopt the middle-class label. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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  165. Wynne, Derek. 1998. Leisure, lifestyle, and the new middle class: A case study. London: Routledge.
  166. DOI: 10.4324/9780203031339Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  167. An ethnographic study of a housing estate in Cheshire, United Kingdom, that draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s framework (see, e.g., Bourdieu 1986, cited under Theoretical Perspectives) to support the notion that the new middle class is a heterogeneous group with divergent interests and attitudes.
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  169. Zablocki, Benjamin D., and Rosabeth Moss Kanter. 1976. The differentiation of life-styles. Annual Review of Sociology 2:269–298.
  170. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.so.02.080176.001413Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  171. Identifies two models of lifestyle differentiation—economically determined lifestyles and other “alternative lifestyles”—that are only indirectly related to socioeconomic status. This conceptual review article provides insight into how tastes are developed and reinforced. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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  173. Politics
  174. Sociological research on politics and the middle class falls into three broad categories. One area of this work examines the political attitudes of professionals and the middle class by focusing on differences within the middle classes and between the middle and working classes in terms of political orientation, political participation, and public opinion. A second area of research is the ongoing debate regarding the “culture wars” thesis and political polarization. These studies examine the role of ideology and class-based assumptions at the intersection of economic, social, and political issues and attitudes. A third area highlights the role of the middle class in developing, maintaining, and challenging democratic institutions—both historically and in contemporary society.
  175. Political Attitudes
  176. The work on the political attitudes of professionals and the middle classes is situated within the larger concern of the relationship between social class and politics (Brooks and Manza 1997). A central question guiding this work is whether there is a split between the new (professional) middle class and the old middle class in terms of political orientation, participation, and opinions. The new class argument is that there is indeed a growing division driven by class position (Herring 1989), whereas other studies (Brint 1984) argue that to the extent that there are clear patterns, these differences are a function of changes in educational attainment and other social factors rather than class per se. Van de Werfhorst and de Graaf 2004 demonstrates the relevance of educational attainment in the Netherlands. Brint 1994 provides a comprehensive account of the identities and attitudes of professionals, whereas Gerteis 1998 connects the empirical debate with broader theoretical arguments regarding predictions of class alignment.
  177. Brint, Steven. 1984. “New-class” and cumulative trend explanations of the liberal political attitudes of professionals. American Journal of Sociology 90.1: 30–71.
  178. DOI: 10.1086/228047Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  179. Challenges the new class argument that professionals and technically trained managers are aligning with Leftist, class-based challengers and that this represents a new wave of class conflict. Finds that although some subsets of the new class hold oppositional views, broader societal trends in education and cohort and specific liberalized attitudes, rather than class conflict, explain these changes. Available online by subscription.
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  181. Brint, Steven. 1994. In an age of experts: The changing role of professionals in politics and public life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
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  183. By focusing solely on the identities and attitudes of professionals, this book provides a detailed contribution to the broader debate concerning the political view of the new class and suggests that in many respects professionals are more closely aligned with elites than the traditional middle classes.
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  185. Brooks, Clem, and Jeff Manza. 1997. The social and ideological bases of middle-class political realignment in the United States, 1972–1992. American Sociological Review 62.2: 191–208.
  186. DOI: 10.2307/2657299Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  187. Central in the debates on the political views of professionals and managers, this article demonstrates that rather than being determinist, the effects of social class on political attitudes are mediated by party identification. Available online by subscription.
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  189. Gerteis, Joseph. 1998. Political alignment and the American middle class, 1974–1994. Sociological Forum 13.4: 639–666.
  190. DOI: 10.1023/A:1022847401145Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  191. Identifies competing ideal types from different theoretical perspectives and then tests the associated predictions regarding the political alignment of the American middle class using General Social Survey data. Available online by subscription.
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  193. Herring, Cedric. 1989. Splitting the middle: Political alienation, acquiescence, and activism among America’s middle layers. New York: Praeger.
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  195. Focuses on the causes and consequences of political alienation experienced by the “new layer” of the middle class as distinct from the professional-managerial middle class (PMC) from the 1960s to the 1980s in the United States.
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  197. van de Werfhorst, Herman G., and Nan Dirk de Graaf. 2004. The sources of political orientations in post-industrial society: Social class and education revisited. British Journal of Sociology 55.2: 211–235.
  198. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-4446.2004.00016.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  199. Contributes to the debate on the new class by analyzing data from the Netherlands to argue that higher education levels are the key attribute driving the divergent political orientations of the new and the old middle classes. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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  201. Culture Wars and Class
  202. The literature on culture wars rarely deals with the middle class directly, but these debates are driven by ideological and class-based assumptions. The question of whether there is increasing polarization between groups in US society (the typical focus of these studies) is premised on the notion that there are distinct groups in the first place and that these groups are defined in some way by economic, social, and political factors. Frank 2004 most clearly lays out the argument that cultural issues have trumped economic concerns, leading to support for politicians and policies that only benefit the upper class. Gelman 2010 represents a sustained critique of that thesis. Other works, such as Fiorina, et al. 2011 and Wolfe 1998, argue that there is much less division and disagreement among the populace than is suggested by the culture war thesis and partisan politics. Page and Jacobs 2009 examines public opinion regarding economic inequality, and the edited volume Clark and Lipset 2001 serves as an important overview of the debates concerning the broader questions of whether and how classes matter in shaping political attitudes.
  203. Clark, Terry Nichols, and Seymour Martin Lipset, eds. 2001. The breakdown of class politics: A debate on post-industrial stratification. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center.
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  205. This edited volume brings together leading scholarship (much of it previously published) to debate the extent to which class has mattered in shaping political attitudes and actions in economically advanced Western nations since the 1970s.
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  207. Fiorina, Morris P., Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope. 2011. Culture war? The myth of a polarized America. 3d ed. Great Questions in Politics. Boston: Pearson Longman.
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  209. An accessible analysis and presentation of survey data by political scientists arguing that whereas politicians and political parties have become more polarized, individual voters and citizens have not.
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  211. Frank, Thomas. 2004. What’s the matter with Kansas? How conservatives won the heart of America. New York: Metropolitan.
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  213. This journalistic/historical book is at the center of a fierce debate on whether working- and middle-class Americans exhibit a form of false consciousness and routinely support politicians and policies that go against their economic issues.
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  215. Gelman, Andrew. 2010. Red state, blue state, rich state, poor state: Why Americans vote the way they do. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
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  217. Using survey data, this book sets out to debunk Thomas Frank’s argument (see Frank 2004) and demonstrates the complex interactions of class, partisanship, and place.
  218. Find this resource:
  219. Page, Benjamin I., and Lawrence R. Jacobs. 2009. Class war? What Americans really think about economic inequality. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
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  221. Reports data on attitudes toward economic inequality by social class and political party, revealing widespread philosophical (although not political) agreement regarding the need to reduce economic inequalities. Written for general readers.
  222. Find this resource:
  223. Wolfe, Alan. 1998. One nation, after all: What Americans really think about God, country, family, racism, welfare, immigration, homosexuality, work, the Right, the Left, and each other. New York: Viking.
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  225. Using in-depth interviews, Wolfe asserts that middle-class Americans share many more attitudes and beliefs than the culture war thesis suggests.
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  227. Democracy and Policy
  228. In addition to that identifying the political attitudes of the middle classes, there is a stream of research that seeks to connect these issues to broader questions about the role of social classes in developing, maintaining, and challenging democratic institutions. Glassman, et al. 1993 traces the role of the middle classes in shaping democratic institutions across Western history, and the comparative study Papadakis 1993 demonstrates the importance of middle-class support for welfare regimes. Phillips 1993 shows how federal economic policies and partisan politics can alienate broad swaths of the middle class. These cleavages (Croteau 1995, Howe 1992) may be difficult to overcome, but Gans 1991 argues that cross-class coalition building is essential to countering the disproportionate influence of elites.
  229. Croteau, David. 1995. Politics and the class divide: Working people and the middle-class Left. Labor and Social Change. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press.
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  231. Provides a cultural explanation of the different political attitudes and activism of working- and middle-class Americans.
  232. Find this resource:
  233. Gans, Herbert J. 1991. Middle American individualism: Political participation and liberal democracy. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
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  235. Advocates building political coalitions across working-class, middle-class, and upper-middle-class reforming political institutions to reduce the role of political and economic elites.
  236. Find this resource:
  237. Glassman, Ronald M., William H. Swatos Jr., and Peter Kivisto. 1993. For democracy: The noble character and tragic flaws of the middle class. Contributions in Sociology 105. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
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  239. Draws on Aristotle’s notion of a mixed polity and the “commercial middle class” to trace the role the middle class has played in promoting democratic institutions from the Greek polis to modern capitalist industrialist nations.
  240. Find this resource:
  241. Howe, Carolyn. 1992. Political ideology and class formation: A study of the middle class. Westport, CT: Praeger.
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  243. Provides a systematic review of theories of the middle class and analyzes data from the United States and Sweden to examine the political cleavages among different middle-class strata.
  244. Find this resource:
  245. Papadakis, Elim. 1993. Class interests, class politics, and welfare state regime. British Journal of Sociology 44.2: 249–270.
  246. DOI: 10.2307/591219Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  247. A comparative study that identifies the importance of middle-class support for welfare state policy development and expansion. Available online by subscription.
  248. Find this resource:
  249. Phillips, Kevin. 1993. Boiling point: Republicans, Democrats, and the decline of middle-class prosperity. New York: Random House.
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  251. Revealing the intersection of economic policy and party politics, this analysis focuses primarily on the United States in the 1970s and 1980s and charts the impact of these factors on the economic condition of the middle class.
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  253. Economics
  254. The economics of the middle class begins with empirical studies on income that seek to document and explain the wage distribution across the labor market and studies that examine the role of the middle class as a harbinger of broader economic vitality and performance. In the mid-20th century landmark studies based on new data and statistical analysis techniques introduced the study of social mobility. Since the 1980s much attention has been given to documenting changing fortunes and economic struggles of the middle class—in particular the threat and experience of downward mobility. A subset of these studies has turned attention to the emergence of consumer debt, especially in American society, as a key factor in the financial precariousness of many members of the middle class.
  255. Income
  256. These studies focus on the changes in the overall wage distribution (Blank 2011) and the relationship of the economic well-being of the middle class to the broader economy (Strobel 1993). Frank 2007 conceptualizes the middle class primarily based on income but argues that it is necessary to take psychological factors into account to understand the economic decisions of the middle class. Warren and Tyagi 2003 documents the growing number of two-income households that require both incomes to maintain middle-class lifestyles.
  257. Blank, Rebecca M. 2011. Changing inequality. Aaron Wildavsky Forum for Public Policy 8. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
  258. DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520266926.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259. A detailed analysis of changes in the US income distribution since the late 1970s. Particularly useful as a primer in graduate courses on stratification and economics.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Frank, Robert H. 2007. Falling behind: How rising inequality harms the middle class. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
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  263. Written by an economist, this is a critique of economic analyses of the middle class that ignore psychological evaluative dimensions of choice. Essentially argues that more nuanced and systematic attention to the “relative consumption” of individuals is needed.
  264. Find this resource:
  265. Strobel, Frederick R. 1993. Upward dreams, downward mobility: The economic decline of the American middle class. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
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  267. This book provides a political economic analysis of the data on the middle class from the New Deal to the 1990s, with a focus on how the economic well-being of the middle class is essential to broader societal health.
  268. Find this resource:
  269. Warren, Elizabeth, and Amelia Warren Tyagi. 2003. The two-income trap: Why middle-class mothers and fathers are going broke. New York: Basic.
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  271. Contends that the increase in two-income households is essentially a coping strategy for enabling middle-class families to maintain middle-class status in the face of skyrocketing housing and education costs.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. (Downward) Mobility
  274. In two classic studies Blau and Duncan 1967 documents and assesses rates of social mobility in the United States, and Sennett and Cobb 1993 provides a portrait of the American working class that reveals the tensions created by broadly expanding economic opportunities post–World War II. Since the 1980s a focus of much work has been the changing fortunes and economic struggles of the American middle class. Ehrenreich 1989, Newman 1993, and Newman 1999 offer rich, detailed portraits of struggling middle-class households. The distributional model in Perrucci and Wysong 2008 places the plight of the middle class within a broader class perspective. Martin 2010 shows how views toward economic inequality and downward mobility vary by social class.
  275. Blau, Peter M., and Otis Dudley Duncan. 1967. The American occupational structure. New York: Wiley.
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  277. This landmark study provides an extremely detailed portrait of class mobility in the United States during the mid-20th century. This study reveals the expansion of the middle and upper classes and that most people move only short distances within the stratification system.
  278. Find this resource:
  279. Ehrenreich, Barbara. 1989. Fear of falling: The inner life of the middle class. New York: Pantheon.
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  281. An accessible book written for a general audience that explores the psychological motivations of the American middle class and how these influenced broader class relations and politics into the 1980s.
  282. Find this resource:
  283. Martin, Jonathan. 2010. Stew of discontent: “Middle class” Americans’ economic populism in the 1990s and beyond. Humanity and Society 34.4: 350–378.
  284. DOI: 10.1177/016059761003400404Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  285. Rich analysis of interview data examines the diversity of middle-class attitudes and opinions toward economic inequality and the nuances of these positions. Available online by subscription.
  286. Find this resource:
  287. Newman, Katherine S. 1993. Declining fortunes: The withering of the American Dream. New York: Basic Books.
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  289. Based on 150 interviews with white-collar and skilled blue-collar professionals, this book shows the struggles of members of the baby boom generation as they faced a diminished standard of living compared with that of their middle-class parents.
  290. Find this resource:
  291. Newman, Katherine S. 1999. Falling from grace: Downward mobility in the age of affluence. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
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  293. An anthropological treatment of the lived experiences of Americans who are struggling with staying in or are desperately trying to get back into the middle class.
  294. Find this resource:
  295. Perrucci, Robert, and Earl Wysong. 2008. The new class society: Goodbye American Dream? 3d ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
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  297. The authors develop a distributional model of social class that incorporates the role organizations play in shaping work experiences and legitimating inequality (in addition to the long-standing concerns with social and human capital, occupations, and production). This model is used to study contemporary inequality in the United States.
  298. Find this resource:
  299. Sennett, Richard, and Jonathan Cobb. 1993. Hidden injuries of class. New York: Norton.
  300. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  301. Focusing on working-class men, this study offers important insights into how upward mobility affects those who remain working class.
  302. Find this resource:
  303. Consumer Debt
  304. The changing role of consumer debt has emerged as a key factor in understanding the economic standing of the contemporary middle class. Manning 2000 focuses on the emergence of the credit card industry, whereas Porter 2012 and Sullivan, et al. 2000 draw attention to the growing number of middle-class Americans filing for bankruptcy. Leicht and Fitzgerald 2007 places these developments within a broad political economic perspective, and Skocpol 2000 links the economic precariousness of the middle class directly to public policy failures.
  305. Leicht, Kevin T., and Scott T. Fitzgerald. 2007. Postindustrial peasants: The illusion of middle-class prosperity. Contemporary Social Issues. New York: Worth.
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  307. Documents how the strategy of taking on increased household debt has propped up middle-class spending and led to an indebted middle class.
  308. Find this resource:
  309. Manning, Robert D. 2000. Credit card nation: The consequences of America’s addiction to credit. New York: Basic Books.
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  311. A thorough analysis of the development of the credit card industry and the impact of consumer debt on the middle classes and the poor in the United States.
  312. Find this resource:
  313. Porter, Katherine, ed. 2012. Broke: How debt bankrupts the middle class. Studies in Social Inequality. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.
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  315. This edited volume addresses the precarious economic lives of middle-class Americans and how bankruptcy is tied to issues of wages, consumer debt, and health. Includes findings from the 2007 Consumer Bankruptcy Project.
  316. Find this resource:
  317. Skocpol, Theda. 2000. The missing middle: Working families and the future of American social policy. New York: Norton.
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  319. Connects the economic hardships to conservative politicians’ efforts to undermine governmental programs that provide protection for the middle classes and the failure of liberal politicians to protect these programs. Offers a series of policy proposals advocating broad-based programs as opposed to ones targeting specific subgroups.
  320. Find this resource:
  321. Sullivan, Teresa A., Elizabeth Warren, and Jay Lawrence Westbrook. 2000. The fragile middle class: Americans in debt. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
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  323. Based on data from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, this book was one of the first to document the prevalence of middle-class Americans filing for personal bankruptcy in the 1980s and 1990s.
  324. Find this resource:
  325. Education and Parenting
  326. Research on the role of social class on parenting styles, child development, and educational outcomes has focused on the differences between the middle and the working classes. Lareau 2011 (cited under Lifestyles, Norms, and Values) provides a seminal statement on class, parenting, and social reproduction, and Lareau 2000 and Lareau 2002 demonstrate how different parenting styles produce benefits for middle-class children. Other studies have documented how these advantages affect classroom interactions (Calarco 2011), interactions with school officials (Brantlinger 2003), and organizational engagement (McGrath and Kuriloff 1999). Lareau 2000 and Kaufman 2005 show how these class-based advantages are not automatic but must be activated.
  327. Brantlinger, Ellen. 2003. Dividing classes: How the middle class negotiates and rationalizes school advantage. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  328. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  329. A critical ethnography of a school district based on the assumption that dominant groups actively pursue and maintain their advantage. Identifies the ways middle- and upper-class parents navigate and control the education system to benefit themselves and members of these classes.
  330. Find this resource:
  331. Calarco, Jessica McCrory. 2011. “I need help!”: Social class and children’s help-seeking in elementary school. American Sociological Review 76.6: 862–882.
  332. DOI: 10.1177/0003122411427177Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  333. Documents the advantages gained within the school setting by middle-class children’s strategies for seeking help and shows how these practices contribute to social reproduction of class advantage. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  334. Find this resource:
  335. Kaufman, Peter. 2005. Middle-class social reproduction: The activation and negotiation of structural advantages. Sociological Forum 20.2: 245–270.
  336. DOI: 10.1007/s11206-005-4099-xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  337. A qualitative study of college students that demonstrates the active processes of negotiation and construction that students must engage in to receive middle-class advantages. Available online by subscription.
  338. Find this resource:
  339. Lareau, Annette. 2000. Home advantage: Social class and parental intervention in elementary education. 2d ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
  340. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  341. Asserts that structural location does not automatically translate into individual-level educational benefits but must be activated by individuals.
  342. Find this resource:
  343. Lareau, Annette. 2002. Invisible inequality: Social class and childrearing in black families and white families. American Sociological Review 67.5: 747–776.
  344. DOI: 10.2307/3088916Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  345. Argues that middle-class and working-class families engage in different parenting styles that affect both child development and parents’ interactions with professionals outside the home, producing a cumulative positive effect for middle-class youth. These processes are the same for both black families and white families. Available online by subscription.
  346. Find this resource:
  347. McGrath, Daniel J., and Peter J. Kuriloff. 1999. “They’re going to tear the doors off this place”: Upper-middle-class parent school involvement and the educational opportunities of other people’s children. Educational Policy 13.5: 603–629.
  348. DOI: 10.1177/0895904899013005001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  349. Details how white, upper-middle-class parents tend to interact in ways that exclude participation by members of other racial and class groups in activities designed to benefit their children. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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  351. Gender, Race, and Ethnicity
  352. The view that social class is mediated by gender, race, and ethnicity has received considerable attention. (Note: the literature on the Black Middle Class is so extensive that it is discussed in a separate section.) Some studies focus on the intersection of race/ethnicity and middle-class status, including Jews (Berman 2007), Latinos (Cobas and Feagin 2008), and the dynamics of new immigrant communities (Brettell and Nibbs 2011), whereas others look at the intersection of gender and class (Parks-Yancy, et al. 2006), and still others examine the intersectionality of all three (Finn 2009, McCall 2001). A related branch of research explores the household division of labor (Hochschild 1997) and attempts at work-family balance for professional and middle-class women (Rudd and Descartes 2008).
  353. Berman, Lila Corwin. 2007. American Jews and the ambivalence of middle-classness. American Jewish History 93.4: 409–434.
  354. DOI: 10.1353/ajh.0.0045Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  355. A historical treatment drawing on a broad range of work from the social sciences and humanities to locate the unique experiences of middle-class Jews in the United States. Available online by subscription.
  356. Find this resource:
  357. Brettell, Caroline B., and Faith G. Nibbs. 2011. Immigrant suburban settlement and the “threat” to middle class status and identity: The case of Farmers Branch, Texas. In Special issue: Employment penalisation of immigrants in Western Europe. Edited by Giovanna Fullin and Emilio Reyneri. International Migration 49.1: 1–30.
  358. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2435.2010.00611.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  359. Uses a case study to examine how issues of race/ethnicity, class, and culture intersect to shape perceptions of American and middle-class identities. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  360. Find this resource:
  361. Cobas, José A., and Joe R. Feagin. 2008. Language oppression and resistance: The case of middle class Latinos in the United States. Ethnic and Racial Studies 31.2: 390–410.
  362. DOI: 10.1080/01419870701491945Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  363. An exploratory study based on interviews with middle-class Latinos that focuses on how whites employ language through everyday discourse in ways that perpetuate ethnic discrimination, even for economically successful Latinos. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  364. Find this resource:
  365. Finn, Rachel L. 2009. Situating middle class identities: American college women of South Asian descent. Gender, Place, and Culture 16.3: 279–298.
  366. DOI: 10.1080/09663690902836318Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367. Building on Pierre Bourdieu’s conception of habitus (see, e.g., Bourdieu 1986, cited under Theoretical Perspectives), this article illustrates the role of discourse in the identity work done by members of the middle class and how this work is shaped by gender and ethnicity. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  368. Find this resource:
  369. Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 1997. The second shift. New York: Avon.
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  371. Detailed portraits of American families revealing the gendered division of labor and the challenges (particularly for women) of maintaining work-family balance in the modern economy. Excellent for use in undergraduate courses.
  372. Find this resource:
  373. McCall, Leslie. 2001. Complex inequality: Gender, class, and race in the new economy. Perspectives on Gender. New York: Routledge.
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  375. Although not focusing solely on the middle class, this book is a good example of work that emphasizes the intersectionality of class, race, and gender as related to labor market participation and outcomes.
  376. Find this resource:
  377. Parks-Yancy, Rochelle, Nancy DiTomaso, and Corinne Post. 2006. The social capital resources of gender and class groups. Sociological Spectrum 26.1: 85–113.
  378. DOI: 10.1080/02732170500269651Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  379. Identifies the differential returns to social capital for working-class and middle-class women. These qualitative findings highlight the interaction of gender and class in explaining career trajectories. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  380. Find this resource:
  381. Rudd, Elizabeth, and Lara Descartes, eds. 2008. The changing landscape of work and family in the American middle class: Reports from the field. Lanham, MD: Lexington.
  382. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  383. This edited volume provides extensive ethnographic portraits of couples and families navigating the labor market and family and household demands.
  384. Find this resource:
  385. Black Middle Class
  386. Given the history of racial exclusion and discrimination in the United States, it is perhaps not surprising that considerable attention has been given to examining the emergence of the black middle class. Frazier 1957 and Landry 1987 represent early statements on this topic. Pattillo-McCoy 1999 and Adelman 2004 demonstrate the continued existence and impact of residential segregation. Landry and Marsh 2011 provides a useful overview of key debates and studies on the black middle class.
  387. Adelman, Robert M. 2004. Neighborhood opportunities, race, and class: The black middle class and residential segregation. City and Community 3.1: 43–63.
  388. DOI: 10.1111/j.1535-6841.2004.00066.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  389. Documents the continued patterns of residential segregation in the United States based on race. In particular, middle-class blacks are more likely to live in lower-socioeconomic-status neighborhoods than middle-class whites. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  390. Find this resource:
  391. Frazier, E. Franklin. 1957. Black bourgeoisie: The rise of a new middle class in the United States. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
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  393. A classic and critical statement on the emergence of a black bourgeoisie (i.e., those earning incomes primarily in white-collar occupations) in America immediately following World War II.
  394. Find this resource:
  395. Landry, Bart. 1987. The new black middle class. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
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  397. Argues that economic and political changes during the 1960s provided many new opportunities for black Americans. A more empirically grounded and sympathetic analysis than E. Franklin Frazier’s study of earlier cohorts (see Frazier 1957).
  398. Find this resource:
  399. Landry, Bart, and Kris Marsh. 2011. The evolution of the new black middle class. Annual Review of Sociology 37:373–394.
  400. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150047Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  401. Reviews the main streams of sociological research on the black middle class and directions for future research. Very useful for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  402. Find this resource:
  403. Pattillo-McCoy, Mary. 1999. Black picket fences: Privilege and peril among the black middle class. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
  404. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  405. Examines how space and place as well as economic and cultural factors influence the socialization of black middle-class youth.
  406. Find this resource:
  407. Religion
  408. The research on religion and the middle class generally falls into two categories. The first is interested in whether there are socioeconomic differences across religious denominations. Park and Reimer 2002 contends that these differences are disappearing, whereas Smith and Faris 2005 argues that they are still significant. Schwadel, et al. 2009 shows the importance of class-based differences within a particular religious tradition (Catholicism). The second stream of work focuses on the mechanisms that connect religion to financial (Keister 2011), educational, and occupational outcomes (Lehrer 2009). Both of these categories of research are premised on the notion that socioeconomic status and social class can influence religious affiliation and that in return affiliation and practice can influence social reproduction and class location.
  409. Keister, Lisa A. 2011. Faith and money: How religion contributes to wealth and poverty. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  410. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139028547Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  411. Explores how religious affiliation, which is related to class background, affects education and occupational attainment and saving and investment behaviors.
  412. Find this resource:
  413. Lehrer, Evelyn L. 2009. Religion, economics, and demography: The effects of religion on education, work, and the family. Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy. London: Routledge.
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  415. A collection of previously published studies spanning two decades of Lehrer’s research. The book provides an analytic framework for understanding how religion can shape family formation, educational attainment, and career trajectory, thereby contributing to class-based social reproduction.
  416. Find this resource:
  417. Park, Jerry Z., and Samuel H. Reimer. 2002. Revisiting the social sources of American Christianity, 1972–1998. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41.4: 733–746.
  418. DOI: 10.1111/1468-5906.00158Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  419. This study argues that the socioeconomic divisions between different religious traditions are gradually eroding. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  420. Find this resource:
  421. Schwadel, Philip, John D. McCarthy, and Hart M. Nelsen. 2009. The continuing relevance of family income for religious participation: U.S. white Catholic church attendance in the late 20th century. Social Forces 87.4: 1997–2030.
  422. DOI: 10.1353/sof.0.0220Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  423. Examines the differences between low-income and middle-class Catholics in terms of religious practice, determining that middle-class Catholics are more engaged in church activities and worship and are therefore better positioned to receive the network and social capital benefits associated with this participation. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  424. Find this resource:
  425. Smith, Christian, and Robert Faris. 2005. Socioeconomic inequality in the American religious system: An update and assessment. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 44.1: 95–104.
  426. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2005.00267.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  427. Finds that the historic association between religious traditions and socioeconomic status still exists and that it is becoming more stable. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  428. Find this resource:
  429. Space and Place
  430. The importance of physical location and environment, in terms of both residential segregation and class-based segregation, is a notion that has been incorporated into sociological treatments of the middle class. Gans 1982, a classic study of racially and culturally homogeneous Levittown, can be seen as an important starting point in this tradition. Hanlon 2009 updates studies on suburbia by documenting the growing heterogeneity of suburban communities. Hines 2010 sees the cultural meanings attached to lifestyle choices, as evidenced in decisions by the middle class about where to live. Sennett 1970 provides a historical analysis of the relationship between neighborhoods and family structure, and Pattillo 2005 demonstrates the causes and consequences of neighborhoods segregated by race and class.
  431. Gans, Herbert J. 1982. Levittowners: Ways of life and politics in a new suburban community. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.
  432. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  433. Originally published in 1967. This study of the famous Levittown community explores the origins of the continued association between single-family suburban homes and middle-class American dreams.
  434. Find this resource:
  435. Hanlon, Bernadette. 2009. A typology of inner-ring suburbs: Class, race, and ethnicity in U.S. suburbia. City and Community 8.3: 221–246.
  436. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6040.2009.01287.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  437. Documents the changing composition of suburban neighborhoods and growing heterogeneity based on race, ethnicity, and class in some areas. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  438. Find this resource:
  439. Hines, J. Dwight. 2010. In pursuit of experience: The postindustrial gentrification of the rural American West. Ethnography 11.2: 285–308.
  440. DOI: 10.1177/1466138110361846Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  441. Studies the movement away from the suburbs by segments of the middle class and locates the impetus for these trends within a cultural framework built on new consumption patterns. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  442. Find this resource:
  443. Pattillo, Mary. 2005. Black middle-class neighborhoods. Annual Review of Sociology 31:305–329.
  444. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.095956Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  445. Summarizes a wide range of studies that tend to approach the topic either in terms of middle-class individuals’ preferences and choices regarding where they live or by examining entire neighborhoods, which can then be compared with other nonblack neighborhoods. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  446. Find this resource:
  447. Sennett, Richard. 1970. Families against the city: Middle class homes of industrial Chicago, 1872–1890. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
  448. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  449. This is a study on the dynamics of family life in a 19th-century American middle-class neighborhood. In contrast to traditional working-class households, women played an authoritarian role in these homes.
  450. Find this resource:
  451. International and Comparative Studies
  452. Many studies of the middle class provide insight into specific subpopulations or national contexts or both, including Thai Americans (Bao 2009), professionals in Hong Kong (Wong 2004), small business owners in Russia (Barkhatova, et al. 2001), and lower-middle-class women in India (Ganguly-Scrase 2003). Other studies, such as Parker 1998, an examination of Peru, and Gilbert 2007, a study of Mexico, offer a historical and political analysis of class formation. Kivinen 1989 examines class formation in Finland.
  453. Bao, Jiemin. 2009. Thai American middle-classness: Forging alliances with whites and cultivating patronage from Thailand’s elite. Journal of Asian American Studies 12.2: 163–190.
  454. DOI: 10.1353/jaas.0.0041Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  455. An ethnographic study of a Buddhist temple in Silicon Valley, California, that demonstrates the cultural processes whereby Thai immigrants manage the structural mismatch of their ethnic and middle-class locations. Available online by subscription.
  456. Find this resource:
  457. Barkhatova, Nonna, Peter McMylor, and Rosemary Mellor. 2001. Family business in Russia: The path to middle class? British Journal of Sociology 52.2: 249–269.
  458. DOI: 10.1080/00071310120044971Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  459. Based on extensive interviews, this study suggests that the emergence of the middle class in Russia is hampered by the legacy of Soviet-era social relations. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  460. Find this resource:
  461. Ganguly-Scrase, Ruchira. 2003. Paradoxes of globalization, liberalization, and gender equality: The worldviews of the lower middle class in West Bengal, India. Gender and Society 17.4: 544–566.
  462. DOI: 10.1177/0891243203254077Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  463. Reveals the culturally specific nature of gendered attitudes and class-based experiences.
  464. Find this resource:
  465. Gilbert, Dennis. 2007. Mexico’s middle class in the neoliberal era. Tucson: Univ. of Arizona Press.
  466. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  467. Blends survey data and personal narratives to illustrate the emergence of the modern middle class in Mexico during the 1940s and its economic and political experiences through the 1980s. Particularly useful in undergraduate courses.
  468. Find this resource:
  469. Kivinen, Markku. 1989. The new middle classes and the labour process. Acta Sociologica 32.1: 53–73.
  470. DOI: 10.1177/000169938903200103Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  471. Drawing on data from an international research project headed by Erik Olin Wright, this article develops a conceptual map of class locations in contemporary Finland and compares five competing interpretations of production relations within the Marxist perspective. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  472. Find this resource:
  473. Parker, D. S. 1998. The idea of the middle class: White-collar workers and Peruvian Society, 1900–1950. University Park: Pennsylvania State Univ. Press.
  474. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  475. Details how the creation of a middle-class identity by white-collar workers in particular industries during the 1920s and 1930s provided the justification for political and economic policies that directly benefited members of these groups and that shaped future development of the country.
  476. Find this resource:
  477. Wong, Yi-Lee. 2004. A unified middle class or two middle classes? A comparison of career strategies and intergenerational mobility strategies between teachers and managers in contemporary Hong Kong. British Journal of Sociology 55.2: 167–186.
  478. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-4446.2004.00014.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  479. Using qualitative data from seventy professionals in Hong Kong, this study argues that the speculated division within the middle class between professionals and managers is overstated. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  480. Find this resource:
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