Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia - Jurusan Antropologi ...

INDIAN MIDDLE-CLASS IDENTITY 253
is that the definition of the Indian middle class is not necessarily limited by space
or political boundaries. In the context of globalisation, a rigid distinction between
diasporic Indians and locally based Indians is not particularly meaningful. 1 Also,
the emigration of Indian professionals through temporary employment contracts
has contributed to a substantial circulation of people between India and other parts
of the world. For example, the movement of Indian computer professionals (Lakha
1992) between India and countries such as Australia, the UK and the USA,
amongst others, is an important trend in recent years and emphasises India’s
integration into the global information technology sector (Lakha 1994). 2 This
integration has been facilitated by the global revolution in communications and
transport which has intensified the world-wide flow of capital, commodities,
information and people, and contributed to ‘time-space compression’ by reducing
spatial and temporal distances (see Harvey 1989:147 and 240). 3
In India economic liberalisation has also accelerated flows of capital, technology
and information by lowering the barriers to foreign investment and promoting the
modernisation of telecommunications. Consequently, through these developments
the articulation between middle-class diasporic Indians and their counterparts in
India is assuming greater significance. The combination of economic liberalisation,
diasporic Indians and short-term circular migration is contributing to a globalisation
of the economy and lifestyles at a rapid pace, especially of the middle class in the
metropolitan centres of -India. Even prior to the substantial liberalisation of 1991,
the influence of diasporic Indians was noted right across the cultural spectrum
(Ghosh 1989). According to Ghosh: ‘The culture of the diaspora is also increasingly
a factor within the culture of the Indian subcontinent. This is self-evidently true of
its material culture, which now sets the standards for all that is desirable in the
metropolitan cities (1989:73). Ghosh’s observation is pertinent in the context of this
chapter which argues that middle-class consumption in India is increasingly
globalised, though not entirely at the exclusion of local style and cultural
sensibilities. However, as this discussion reveals, the globalisation of consumption
is not necessarily a reflection of cosmopolitan identities. Instead cultural identity is
built around a tension between globalisation and local affiliations, including those of
caste and religion.
This chapter focuses on the middle class because the way in which India’s new
rich are being represented in much of the literature is in terms of the ‘middle class’
(or ‘middle classes’). This tendency arises because the middle class is growing in
size and reflects the structural transformation under way in the Indian economy
and society. As revealed in section three below, the discussions on the middle class
in India encompass diverse socio-economic groups which some refer to as the new
rich.
The chapter is divided into three sections, and begins with a discussion of the
role of the state in the structural transformation that has contributed to the growth
of the middle class in India. The next section considers the growth of middle-class
consumerism in India and how middle-class identity is constructed through
consumption. Section three takes into account some of the problems associated