scholarly journals Middle class: ways of defining and the special case of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-115
Author(s):  
Gabriel Hasík
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Literary Research ◽  
Political Compromise ◽  
Political Decisions ◽  
Special Case ◽  
Ruling Party

Many ways of classifying themiddle class more or less reflect the level of local prices, historical background or social aspects. The middle class is generally considered one of the main pillars of the market economy without which achieving and maintaining political stability would be impossible. This is based on the assumption that middle-class members prefer rational political decisions, reject political extremism and prefer political compromise. At the same time, however, the middle class has rising expectations and can therefore be a significant factor in political change. The Chinese middle class has one distinct difference over Western countries. While the middle class in the Western countries is the enemy of the regime and the trigger for democratization, the Chinese middle class has often very close relations with the ruling party. This article aims to show themajor approaches to define the middle class, respectively, thedeeper sociological meaning of the class in general and specifically in China. Thearticle is based on literary research, and apart from theoretical part defining middle class, it describes challenges Chinese middle class is facing. Themaincontribution ofthearticleis thecleardescription of the theoretical concept ofthemiddle class andtheidentification ofdifferentiatingfactors anddeterminants oftheChinese middle class.

The Myth of Middle Class Moderation: African Lessons for South Africa

1988 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-48
Author(s):  
Pauline H. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Underlying Assumption ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
The Government

An underlying assumption that ocurs in both conventional wisdom and in many academic analyses of political behavior is the notion that a critical linkage exists between political change and economic performance. The assumption is that economic growth is either a precondition or a correlate of democracy and political stability. Little empirical research has been done to test the validity of this widely held assumption as it applies to multicultural societies. Moreover, in the African environment, the assumption seems to operate only in selected cases or in ways that defy categorization. Jerry Rawlings, for example, said he led his first coup d’etat in Ghana because the government was going to devalue the currency; he led his second coup, in part, because the next government was going to devalue; and, during his own tenure in office, he has presided over a 1000 percent devaluation.

The wall unit: State policy and the emergence of fashion in People’s Poland

2021 ◽  
pp. 146954052110396
Author(s):  
Joanna Zalewska ◽  
Marcin Jewdokimow
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Working Class ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Socialist Country ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Socialist State ◽  
Wall Unit

Consumption in modern, capitalist countries is studied through the lens of fashion. We claim that it is fruitful to apply the concept of fashion to an analysis of consumption in a modern socialist country. By using the example of the wall unit, we discuss the emergence of fashion through the mechanism of state policy in Poland under the Communist regime. The socialist state was responsible for the propagation and implementation of modernity. The idea of progress was internalized by citizens and enacted by social emulation. Additionally, our study reveals that social class was a means of determining different attitudes toward fashion: members of the working class saw value in imitation and exact copying (revealing a monocentric approach to fashion) while the middle class engaged in a polycentric approach, that is, they valued individual creativity, mixed various styles, and were inspired by trends from western countries.

Moral Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 121-148
Author(s):  
Craig Smith
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Moral Science ◽  
Active Pedagogy ◽  
British State ◽  
Forward Looking

This chapter explores how Ferguson used the moral philosophy of chapter 3, based on the moral science of chapter 2, to create a system of education for the rising Scottish middle class. It examines his notion of active pedagogy and his use of stoic and Christian ideas to create a cadre of well-educated and sensible gentlemen who would form the backbone of the British state. The chapter examines Ferguson as a theorist of the modern gentleman rather than the ancient citizen and suggests that he saw institutions as shaped by their personnel. This leads to an account that favours political stability and gradual reform. Ferguson is seen as forward looking educator rather than backward looking nostalgic for Roman citizenship.

New Kenya party may be formidable electoral force

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
General Elections ◽  
National Alliance ◽  
Ruling Party

Subject New political party in Kenya. Significance The two main factions of the ruling Jubilee Alliance have agreed to form a new political party, to be called the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP). President Uhuru Kenyatta's The National Alliance (TNA) and Deputy President William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) have a collective advantage with regards to election funding and political savvy. The main ethnic groups that support the parties -- the Kikuyu (TNA) and the Kalenjin (URP) -- are two of the most numerous and wealthy communities in the country. If the JAP holds together it will be difficult for the opposition to defeat it in the 2017 general elections. Impacts JAP's formation is part of a wider attempt by Kenyatta and Ruto to boost political stability. A ruling party solidifying the Kikuyu and Kalenjin alliance will strengthen their claims for assuring peace and stability. The government's consolidated power should allow for the policy continuity required to push through major infrastructure projects.

The microwave syndrome or electro-hypersensitivity: historical background

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
David O. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
Microwave Range ◽  
Emotional Instability ◽  
Smart Meters ◽  
Microwave Exposure ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Persistent Symptoms ◽  
Loss Of Appetite

AbstractMicrowave generating equipment first became common during World War 2 with the development of radar. Soviet bloc countries reported that individuals exposed to microwaves frequently developed headaches, fatigue, loss of appetite, sleepiness, difficulty in concentration, poor memory, emotional instability, and labile cardiovascular function, and established stringent exposure standards. For a variety of reasons these reports were discounted in Western countries, where the prevailing belief was that there could be no adverse health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) that were not mediated by tissue heating. The reported Soviet effects were at lower intensities than those that cause heating. However, there were several accidental exposures of radar operators in Western countries that resulted in persistent symptoms similar to those described above. The Soviets irradiated the US Embassy in Moscow with microwaves during the period 1953–1975, and while no convincing evidence of elevated cancer rates was reported, there were reports of “microwave illness”. Officials passed these complaints off as being due to anxiety, not effects of the microwave exposure. There is increasing evidence that the “microwave syndrome” or “electro-hypersensitivity” (EHS) is a real disease that is caused by exposure to EMFs, especially those in the microwave range. The reported incidence of the syndrome is increasing along with increasing exposure to EMFs from electricity, WiFi, mobile phones and towers, smart meters and many other wireless devices. Why some individuals are more sensitive is unclear. While most individuals who report having EHS do not have a specific history of an acute exposure, excessive exposure to EMFs, even for a brief period of time, can induce the syndrome.

Social Epistemology and the Politics of Omission

Episteme ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Robert B. Talisse
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Social Epistemology ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Reasonable Pluralism ◽  
Political Justification ◽  
Political Decisions

ABSTRACTContemporary liberal democracy employs a conception of legitimacy according to which political decisions and institutions must be at least in principle justifiable to all citizens. This conception of legitimacy is difficult to satisfy when citizens are deeply divided at the level of fundamental moral, religious, and philosophical commitments. Many have followed the later Rawls in holding that where a reasonable pluralism of such commitments persists, political justification must eschew appeal to any controversial moral, religious, or philosophical premises. In this way, the Rawlsian account of public political justification involves a politics of omission, where citizens are expected to bracket off their most fundamental commitments and seek justifications that draw only from uncontroversial premises. This politics of omission is necessary, Rawls argues, for political stability. But there is good social epistemic evidence for the view that the politics of omission encourages insularity among like-minded groups, and that this insularity in turn generates extremism. So omission is likely to lead to instability, not stability.

scholarly journals World Geopolitical Competition in the Context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-351
Author(s):  
Konstantin V. Blokhin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
The World

Article analyzes predictive estimates and concepts presented by the Western intellectual community, regarding prospects for development of new trends in the global economy, caused by the fourth industrial revolution. Author draws on a variety of sources, including reports from US think tanks, works by representatives of global financial and technocratic elite, and works by American intellectuals. Methodological basis of the study is a theory of the world system of I. Wallerstein, which allows to identify dynamic and conflicting lines of interaction between two geopolitical centers of the world - the United States and China. Based on an analysis of current trends, modern experts predict revolutionary changes in modern technologies that can decisively affect socio-political stability, not only in Western countries, but in developing countries as well. Author shows that the new technological structure is changing not only sector structure of the economy, but also has a strong impact on employment. According to American analysts, new technologies can destabilize socio-political stability in any country, especially in countries where cheap labor is a traditional tool. Robotization and automation of production can become a competitive advantage of the United States and Western countries in competition with China. Article notes that Russia is only at the very beginning of technological revolution, behind big five leading countries. Overcoming its lag in the field of AI and robotics requires adoption of comprehensive measures of economic, scientific and political nature. Ignoring realities of technological progress is fraught with increase in threats to national security.

The Political Role of the African Middle Class: The Over-Politicization of an Elusive Category

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Darbon
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Sub Saharan

The African middle class (AMC) is an elusive category with high political significance. In spite of its vagueness and its controversial nature, this so-called social category is consistently used by a number of individual actors and institutions alike, including IO, NGOs, business interests, and political leaders in Africa for political purposes. The words “African middle class” are suggestive enough to produce new images of African social structures and turn the “hopeless continent” into a “miracle,” a new “powerhouse.” They are strong enough to grant new legitimacy to failing political leaders and the well off and to let people and academics alike anticipate the rise of democratic, stable, uncorrupted institutions. However, people “of the middle of the diamond” in Africa do not exist as a social community or a class. They do not share a common political identity. They have no political role of their own. The diversity of social subgroups may occasionally mobilize together, but for a short period of time and on highly different grounds. The political role of the AMC is as elusive as their mere existence. New social groups of limited prosperity are on the rise. However, they are far from making a class and mobilizing for political purposes. The rise of middle classes in emerging countries became a research theme at the beginning of the 2000s. The discussion took root in sub-Saharan African countries in the 2010s without any in-depth debate about its relevance. It was as if the AMC or classes already existed before the examination of a still very confused and heterogeneous set of transformations of the social structure of African societies was conducted. As a result, the AMC concept appears in almost all analyses as elastic, elusive, cobbled together, and uncertain as to its boundaries, its characteristics, its components, or its homogeneity. This confusion does not prevent authors from anticipating the meaning and effects of the AMC for political stability and democratization. Before studying how the people grouped behind this label can affect and be affected by politics and policies, it is necessary to understand how politically loaded this middle-class label is.

Social Inequality in Japan

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Chiavacci
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Growth Model ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Postwar Japan ◽  
Class Society ◽  
Successful Solution

Social inequality is a central issue of modernity in the intersection between the idea of a market economy, with competition as an irreplaceable element, and democracy, with equality as one of its fundamental principles. In postwar Japan, after a period of fierce conflicts, a shared growth model that included a redistribution from urban centers to the rural peripheries was established as a highly successful solution to this inherent contradiction. Upward mobility and increasing incomes, as well as the support of the countryside, led to a narrative of Japan as a general middle-class society and made it exemplary regarding social and political stability. However, since the late 1990s, due to missing growth and social stagnation, this model is no longer functioning, and a new narrative of Japan as a gap society has become dominant. Since 2000, Japanese governments have tried to establish alternative models of neoliberal growth, welfare growth, and Abenomics, but these have not been able to emulate the success of the former shared growth model.

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