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Making Africa middle class: From poverty reduction to the production of inequality in Tanzania
Author(s) -
Green Maia
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
economic anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2330-4847
DOI - 10.1002/sea2.12032
Subject(s) - tanzania , middle class , inequality , development economics , poverty , social class , production (economics) , poverty reduction , economic growth , economics , geography , socioeconomics , market economy , mathematical analysis , mathematics , macroeconomics
Many countries in sub‐Saharan Africa are moving toward middle‐income status at the same time as their middle classes are growing in size and influence. This article explores the role of middle‐class economic strategies in bringing about structural changes in the organization of Tanzania's rural economy. Middle‐class income strategies oriented toward a mediated relationship with agricultural production depend on the enclosure of productive resources on which rent can be levied and on specific styles of cultural performance. The growth of the middle classes in Tanzania has important implications for inequality, but the extension of middle‐class cultural styles is not solely concerned with differentiation. It is part of a wider cultural shift in everyday social practice in Tanzania .