Afterword: The middle class and the capitalist state

Abstract

If the capitalist state could choose its ideal citizenry, this citizenry would be middle class. It would be so in the conventional sense of the term: modern and individualist, ambitious and hard-working, and above all, propertied and professional. In other words, it would be invested in the material and human-capital projects that constitute a state’s competitiveness in the global economy. In holding up its end of the deal, such citizenry would expect and be entitled to the fruits of the expanding economic pie. Indeed, it could receive those fruits at the same time as surplus would be accumulated and profit pocketed by financiers and employers. The luckiest of these citizens would then be granted enough stability and prosperity to continue working and investing in the projects that enhance national economic growth. This virtuous cycle is a pillar of the modern liberal state project. And to the extent that the middle classes are those for whom the state system delivers on its promise of stability and prosperity (as the introduction to this collection suggests), it works. Until it stops working. Because, in spite of many years of deliberate efforts and public investments designed to turn the core of their populations into model middle classes, states and their citizens run up against insurmountable obstacles to the realization of this ideal. The articles in this collection illustrate some of their failures. In South Africa, cadres of black salaried professionals performing their newfound authority and prestige are plagued with the injuries of limited recognition and unrealized potential. Mining and hydrocarbons functionaries in Mozambique fashion their professional selves in relation to an idealized national project, yet as this project erodes, their relationship to the state become unstable. The Aymara bourgeoisie of Bolivia, who are to demonstrate national success while conforming to global standards, balk at the state’s efforts to redirect their profits away from their kin and business networks. For women in India, the promise of homeownership-related autonomy intensifies their responsibilities as home-makers and caregivers. Jordan’s attempts to redefine gender roles are undermined by unemployment, discrimination, insufficient childcare, lack of safe and reliable public transportation and a suburbanized built environment catering to male breadwinners. And in Croatia, the