Paper short abstract:

Based on the study of four generations of highly educated Northern Ghanaians and on a close reading of past studies of African elites, this paper discusses the theoretical implications and predicaments of the terms “elite” vs. “middle class” in the study of social differentiation and inequality in Africa.

Paper long abstract:

Elite and middle class are analytical categories, highlighting competing models of social differentiation, while also representing categories important to actors' own self-understandings. African groups and individuals that were studied as "elites" in the 1960s and 1970s are now often studied as the "middle classes". This shift reflects socioeconomic developments in Africa, namely the growth of middle-income groups, which despite their heterogeneity in terms of profession and source of income evince similarities with respect to life style and an orientation towards individual upward mobility. Furthermore, the term middle class allows African trends to be linked to international policy discourses. Finally, it offers those who see themselves in this category a socially more acceptable self-interpretation than elite concepts that emphasise social distance. At the same time, many both in and outside the academy still prefer the term elite over "upper middle class" because it focuses on educational achievement (rather than wealth or consumption) as a motor of upward social mobility, puts more emphasis on agency, and reflects the ethos of hard work and leadership prominent in many educated elite's self-understanding of their societal role.

Based on the study of four generations of highly educated Northern Ghanaians and on a close reading of past studies of African elites, this paper discusses the theoretical implications and the empirical predicaments of the terms "elite" vs. "middle class" in the study of social differentiation and inequality in Africa.