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

INDIAN MIDDLE-CLASS IDENTITY 271
television programmes with modern themes rather than a wholesale acceptance of
foreign programmes. This accords with Appadurai’s observation that: ‘the central
problem of today’s global interactions is the tension between cultural
homogenization and cultural heterogenization’ (1994:328). As Appadurai argues,
rather than external influences from metropolitan countries leading to
homogenisation, they are indigenised into local cultural forms (1994: 328). The
fusion of Indian fashion with Western fashion in women’s clothing underlines such
indigenisation. Conversely, the spread of Hindu religious nationalism beyond India,
through the agency of the middle-class Indian diaspora suggests, to some degree, a
globalisation of the indigenous.
What I have argued in this chapter is that the new rich in India are to be found in
the professional and entrepreneurial middle class, and that this is a global middle
class. In part, its cultural identity is to be found in a lifestyle built around an English
education and the consumption of high-status global commodities. But it is also
constructed through particular caste and religious proclivities.
Notes
I am grateful to Professor Gyan Pandey (Delhi University) for his most helpful
comments on this chapter. I would also like to thank Reena and Deepak Verma
(La Trobe University) for their considered views on the new rich in Delhi and the
surrounding areas.
1 For Lavie and Swedenburg, the term ‘diaspora’ includes migrants, exiles and
refugees who have ‘dual loyalty’, that is, on the one hand, their links to the places they
live in and, on the other, the ongoing ‘involvement’ with their countries of origin (1996:
14). In this discussion the term ‘diasporic Indians’ includes non-resident Indians as well
as earlier Indian immigrants who have settled for generations outside India. The
latter, as in the case of many East African Gujaratis, have maintained their links with
India either through marriage or business or both.
2 The ramifications of this integration for communication between overseas-based
Indians and their contacts in India are potentially immense as underlined by the
example of an Indian computer professional working in Melbourne on a short
assignment. He informed me that he regularly communicated with his family and
friends through electronic mail (e-mail) which had made it possible to reduce his
reliance on the less frequent and more expensive link through the telephone. Even
middle-class professionals lacking e-mail links maintain regular communication
through fax and telephone connections.
3 ‘Time-space compression’ refers to the acceleration in the ‘pace of life’ that has
accompanied the development of capitalism and changes in communications and
transport (Harvey 1989:240). The onset of the Renaissance in Europe transformed
perceptions of space and time by objectifying them. It thus paved the way for the
control of space for purposes of power and profit. The process of ‘time-space
compression’ has intensified with the shift from mass production associated with
Fordism to flexible accumulation. This shift has witnessed shorter ‘turnover times’ of