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Manisha Pande's book reveals middle class India as a driver of change

Ms Pande persuades us well to stop thinking of the middle class as a static, ahistorical entity

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Chintan Girish Modi

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Middle Class India: Driving Change in the 21st Century
Author: Manisha Pande
Publisher: Aleph Book Company
Pages: 360
Price: Rs 899
  What makes a person identify themselves as a member of the middle class? Does this have to do with their occupation, annual income and purchasing power? Or is their sense of belonging based instead on a set of beliefs, values and behaviours that they hold on to?
 
Journalist Manisha Pande’s book Middle Class India: Driving Change in the 21st Century is an excellent companion to have by your side while exploring these questions. It is divided into three parts. Part I looks at the middle class in pre-Independence India, focusing on the period from 1757 to 1947. Part II concerns itself with the time frame between when India freed itself from the clutches of British colonial rule in 1947 to economic liberalisation in 1991. Part III is about the post-liberalisation scenario, from 1991 until the present day.
 
 
The book is worth reading because, as Ms Pande points out, the middle class makes up 31 per cent of India’s population. By 2047, this segment is expected to hit the 60 per cent mark. That is a huge section of people, considering that the country’s population is estimated to be over 1.4 billion currently. Ms Pande writes, “One of the factors behind India’s increasing influence globally has been its middle class, which has seen unprecedented growth since the economic liberalisation of 1991. Between 1995 and 2021, the middle class grew at a rate of 6.3 per cent per year.”
 
While these numbers are impressive, Ms Pande tempers the celebration with critical commentary. What seems like a mundane subject becomes interesting thanks to the author’s approach and treatment. She traces its transformation from professional guilds of artisans and entrepreneurs to a network of local people seeking employment as administrators with the British Raj, and she also studies how the middle class grew disillusioned with the British colonisers even as it sought to emulate British values. The same class that had once boycotted foreign goods and embraced swadeshi became obsessed with consumption when the economy opened up.
 
This book pushes us to think about the role of the British education system in giving Indians “the confidence to demand what was rightfully theirs” and initiating social reforms like widow remarriage and prohibition of sati. The system, of course, was set up not to benefit Indians but to create what Thomas Babington Macaulay called “a class Indian in blood and colour but English in tastes, opinions, morals and intellect”. It was meant to provide the colonial government with interpreters, clerks and copyists fluent in English. It also ended up producing lawyers, teachers, journalists and intellectuals who wrote fiery speeches, drafted petitions, led public demonstrations, sang Vande Mataram, and went to jail for protesting.
 
Ms Pande persuades us well to stop thinking of the middle class as a static, ahistorical entity. There is ample evidence to back up her proposition. Indian history shows us that the middle class “has risen to the occasion to fight for what it considered morally and ethically right” in the past. A striking example is its active participation in the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare. However, the same class accepted the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi without much resistance and were largely silent about violence against religious minorities under the ruling regime. Ms Pande does not beat about the bush. She says quite explicitly that middle class loyalties tend to “lie with the state” because its members are driven mostly by job security and social prestige rather than justice and rights.
 
The author compels us to acknowledge that “the bulk of the Indian middle class is formed by upper-caste Hindus, who are extremely caste conscious”. The financial ability to travel widely, study abroad, consume books and films, and learn about other cultures has not catalysed a major shift in attitudes and actions. People assigned a lower status in the caste hierarchy continue to experience discrimination in educational institutions, workplaces and neighbourhoods. While reading this book, it is chilling to recall the response that the Mandal Commission Report drew from middle class students in 1990. They resorted to self-immolation to protest affirmative action. One of the biggest contradictions of the middle class, as Ms Pande shows, is how it seeks upward mobility for itself but denies that to others.
 
The author seems aware that generalisations can only capture broad patterns, not give a nuanced picture. She looks briefly at the emergence of a Dalit middle class and a Muslim middle class, their economic and political aspirations, and their relationship with the state. The diversity within the middle class merits further study. One hopes that Ms Pande’s book will encourage other researchers to wade deeper into the subject, and look more closely at how “the inherently middle class character” of the feminist and queer movements in India have shaped their concerns, influenced their tactics, and determined their use of resources. 
 
The reviewer is a writer, journalist and educator. He can be reached @chintanwriting on Instagram and X

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First Published: Jan 13 2025 | 10:44 PM IST

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