Religion and the global middle class: towards a new research agenda

ABSTRACT

This essay discusses the role of religion as a central facet when researching the emerging social group – the global middle class (GMC). It is argued here that religion is a particularly relevant feature for the constitution of this social group because of the GMC’s transnational and cosmopolitan character. In this essay, I will draw on several examples focused on Islamic education provision in Western, pre-dominantly Christian societies to illustrate why and how religion should become critical to our study of the GMC. The essay’s central argument is that there remains a gap in research related to the role of religion in the making and practising of the GMC as a social group. I conclude by proposing a future research agenda that addresses the intersections of religion, education, and the GMC on an individual, national, and global level.

KEYWORDS:

• Global middle class
• religion
• transnationalism
• cosmopolitanism
• religious education
• Islamic education
• identity formation
• transnational religious networks

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.