Keyword: middle class

Middle Class Narratives and the Disconnect with the Poor

Picture: So What Faith Gillian Schutte - In January this year, between 8-10 protestors were killed by the police in service delivery protests, four of them simply for rising up to demand a most basic right - water. This is a contravention of human rights on many levels and while it sent shock waves through poor black working class and marginalized communities, the broader middle class did not react at all. In fact, the silence from South Africa’s middle class was resounding and mystifying. Instead of outrage they have...

What Does It Mean to be Black and Middle Class in South Africa? The Case of Soweto

Picture: Cape Wine Academy Video   What Does It Mean to be Black and Middle Class in South Africa? You might be surprised by the answers provided in this documentary, "Phakathi Soweto's Middling Class", which follows the work of sociologist Mosa Phadi, a researcher at the University of Johannesburg who conducted a perception study in Soweto, South Africa's most famous township, where she quizzed respondents about what it means to be middle class. A surprising 66% of Sowetans consider...