What middle class? The shifting and dynamic nature of class position

Abstract

Class categorisation should not only be informed by academic pursuits but by the lived experiences of those being categorised. A human or community-centred definition of class will illustrate the complexities of class experience and will thus present a dynamic conceptualisation. Through two life-history interviews of two black women from South Africa, this article illustrates that middle-classness for blacks during apartheid was marred with constant shifts related to the socio-economic and political impermanence of class position. Continuous negotiation driven by the need to be included in one's own community and the effects of being racially othered in interaction with whites and white spaces influences these shifts. In conclusion, the article argues that being middle class and black is heterogeneously experienced and thus complex.

Keywords:

• class
• black middle class
• life history

Notes

¹One had completed a PhD in the social sciences and another was writing a PhD at the time of the interviews.

²The broader project was entitled ‘Towards a More Inclusive, Cohesive and Dynamic Society: Understanding the Significance of the Emerging Black Middle Class'.

³The participants signed a consent form indicating their formal agreement to participate in the study.

⁴To protect the anonymity of the participants pseudonyms are used.

⁵The University of the North was popularly known as Turfloop, which was the name of the farm where the university was established. It was renamed Limpopo when it merged with Medunsa in 2005.