Towards a more empirical debate on middle classes in the global south

Abstract

The discussions at and around the EADI General Conference have been very useful in starting to unpack the possible roles of middle classes in development studies. Alejandro Guarin and I wrote the background note for the General Conference, and this contribution aims to reflect on the General Conference and the other contributions to this special debate section, and suggest a way forward.1 My main point is that we can only make progress on this important issue through a more empirical research agenda in which the ascribed roles of different groups are actually examined in some detail. The other point is that we need to be more careful with generalisations, in that all of us can find examples of a particular attitude or role played by specific groups in society that one might call ‘middle class’, but this does not mean that the middle classes operate exclusively or mainly in that way.