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'Below English Line': an ethnographic exploration of class and the English language in post-liberalization India
[journal article]
Abstract
Anthropological studies of India's post-liberalization middle classes have tended to focus mainly on the role of consumption behaviour in the constitution of this class group. Building on these studies, and taking class as an object of ethnographic enquiry, I argue that, over the last 20 years, clas... view more
Anthropological studies of India's post-liberalization middle classes have tended to focus mainly on the role of consumption behaviour in the constitution of this class group. Building on these studies, and taking class as an object of ethnographic enquiry, I argue that, over the last 20 years, class dynamics in the country have been significantly altered by the unprecedentedly important and complex role that the English language has come to play in the production and reproduction of class. Based on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork - conducted at commercial spoken-English training centres, schools, and corporate organizations in Bangalore - I analyse the processes by which this change in class dynamics has occurred, and how it is experienced on the ground. I demonstrate how, apart from being a valuable type of class cultural capital in its own right, proficiency in English has come to play a key role in the acquisition and performance of other important forms of capital associated with middle-class identity. As a result, being able to demonstrate proficiency in English has come to be experienced as a critical element in claiming and maintaining a space in the middle class, regardless of the other types of class cultural capital a person possesses.... view less
Keywords
education; ethnology; social mobility; learning; development; social advancement; social inequality; folklore; social class; labor market; middle class; foreign language teaching; social stratum; structure; English language; school; India
Classification
General Sociology, Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Sociology, Sociological Theories
Sociology of Communication, Sociology of Language, Sociolinguistics
Free Keywords
Gesellschaftsentwicklung; Gesellschaftsstruktur; Soziale Ausgrenzung; Bangalore
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 576-608
Journal
Modern Asian Studies, 52 (2018) 2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X16000639
ISSN
1469-8099
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications
With the permission of the rights owner, this publication is under open access due to a (DFG-/German Research Foundation-funded) national or Alliance license.