Paper short abstract:

The current debate on middle class in Africa implies that the middle class seems to be aside from its socioeconomic structure more or less homogenous. Is this correct? May we talk about THE middle class or is it differentiated into different sociocultural groups?

Paper long abstract:

The current debate on the emerging African the middle class is seen as an important economic and political factor that stabilizes economic growth through domestic demand and the quest for political accountability. This debate implies that aside from the socioeconomic structure (lower and upper strata) the middle class is more or less homogenous. However, we know from data about industrialized countries that the middle class is sociocultural differentiated. How is this in Africa? May we talk about THE middle class or are there different sociocultural groups? To identify traits and groups of middle classes in Africa we adapt a multidimensional framework which has been used for the analysis of classes/social milieus in the Brazilian city Recife (Stoll 2012). The focus of this analysis are (socio-)cultural differences among groups/milieus of urban middle classes. The framework modifies Bourdieu´s sociology by differing the dimensions social structure (education, income, symbolic position), division of labor (work/ activities), culture (habitus, life style, social origin) and historic socio-culture (traditions, ethnicity, recent developments). Additionally we will analyze regional influences like connections between urban and rural areas, forms of globalization either economic or social (e.g. role of diasporas and migration for studies). This will be exemplified by future visions of middle classes in urban Kenya. Finally we will look at necessary methodological adaptions of the framework and discuss if the European/North American notion "middle class" makes sense in Africa.