by Rita Alfonso, Roberto Bartholo, Luiza Sarayed-Din & Cristine Carvalho

The Brazilian debate on Middle Class is largely influenced by both the government definition mostly headed by IBGE – federal government Institute of Geography and Statistics as well as the economic consumption classification developed by ABEP – Brazilian Association of Market Research Enterprises. Both use the letter-base system as a tool of socioeconomic stratification, in which A is the richest and E the poorest, mainly differing on the focus on income (political) or consumption (economic). Making use of an income centered approach IBGE (2017) includes in the Middle Class all the population of classes C and D, comprising the ones with family earnings between 1 to 5 monthly minimum salaries.

On the other hand, incorporating and privileging the consumption criteria in the classification, ABEP, in turn, developed in 2014 what they called Brazil Criteria, which is widely used by market researchers and advertising companies. In addition to family income, it gives a value to variables such as household presence of domestic worker and consumer goods, as well as education levels and geographic location. At the end of the analyses, this point system indicates the value range of each socioeconomic strata (from A-E), defining then, the Middle Class as class C.

Making use of the above-mentioned government definition as well as been one of its major influencers later on, the economist Marcelo Neri (2008) presented to Brazil and the world what he called the ‘New Middle Class’. In his groundbreaking works ‘The new middle class’ and ‘The Bright side of the poor’, Neri (2008, 2012) shown that from 2003 to 2008, 30 million people have left the poverty line and rose into Class C (2008). A word of caution regarding the Brazilian context from 2002 to 2010 is worth here. Brazil has gone through a period of growth based on commodities and consumer debt, with a stable currency and increase of the labor market. Combined with such economic growth and stability, a mix of welfare policies stemming from money transfer, increase of the minimum wages to education programs are pointed by economists (Klein et al 2018) as the explanation to the decrease of poverty revealed by Neri[1] (2008, 2012). Nevertheless, recent studies (Chauí 2013, Kerstenetzky 2015, Pochmann 2012, Souza 2009, 2010, Yaccoub 2011) have questioned the positivist income-centered Neri’s definition of Middle Class, arguing that both essential cultural dimensions as well as symbolic production of social distinction are missing in his interpretation.

As an example of such critics, the sociologist Jesse de Souza denounces that the social slot occupied by the Neri’s New middle class could not be considered as so. Naming it a ‘Struggling Class’ he argues that the solely focus on the average income put together under the same classification a population that has historically access to valuable resources and birth privileges with a new and precarious working parcel of the society (Souza 2009, 2010).  Calling such working parcel as ‘fighters,’ Souza (2009, 2010) presents the various characteristics of such group. Among them, it is important to highlight their need of starting working from an early age, the importance of women participation in the family income and labor market, and the fact they are usually enrolled in low-quality public schools. Nevertheless, regarding the educational level of those ‘fighters’’ children, Souza (2009, 2010) shed light into the fact they currently have more access to the university than their parents. All in all, despite the raise on information access and gender diversity of this new generation, the public policies that are dedicated to this population still reinforcing the old class labor divisions. As Chauí (2013) wisely says the new middle class interests torn between the aspirations of continuing to climb the socio-economic ladder, and its fear of sliding back down.

Delving deeply into the social analyses of the identity of such Middle Class, Yaccoub (2011) add into Souza (2009, 2010) critics defending the need of analyzing the Middle class in a whole. For her, its genesis, its forms of being, styles, modes of consumption, language forms, corporal behavior, habitus, cultural, social and symbolic capitals are fundamental variables to be considered once analyzing Middle Class. Adding into the discussion of class analyses in Brazil, Klein (2018) emphasizes the importance of including race, gender, and the construction and contestation of public space in the understanding of Middle Class formation in the country.

Nevertheless, it is important to highlight the huge impact of the recent Brazil’s socioeconomic recession and political crisis into the fragile discourse of a ‘New Brazil’ as a parallel of ‘New Middle Class’ growth. For instance, from 2014 to 2017 4.1 million families have falling down from class C to D/E. Reinforcing Brazilian historical inequality, the timid economic growth indicated in 2017 have mostly concentrated in the economic recuperation of class A (1% of Brazil population), currently representing 38% of the national income while class D/E have a share of 15,3% (Vilas Boas, 2017). Another crisis impact is the increase in both the unemployment rates as well as the number of defaulters.

Finally, drawing on the above-mentioned studies and having in mind that the official statistics of Brazil are framed by the political economic definition of Middle Class, one must be aware of (i) the various population strata that are put together under the Middle Class name; (ii) the need of including other variables on the analyses, in particular cultural ones; (iii) the impact of race and gender in Brazil’s class formation, if wants to understand the various nuances of Middle Class in Brazil. Saying that, it is probably reasonable to suggest a potential reframe of the available statistics in order to consider the Brazilian Middle Class as a group with shared values and ways of living.

References:
Chaui, Marilena. 2013. “On Social Classes. A New Brazilian Working Class”. In: MacLennan, M. (org). (2013). Poverty in Focus – Middle class. International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), Poverty Practice, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP.

IBGE 2017. Pesquisa Nacional por Amostras de Domicílios. https://ww2.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/condicaodevida/pof/2008_2009/default.shtm

Kerstenetzky, Celia Lessa, Christiane Uchôa, Nelson do Valle Silva. 2015. “The Elusive New Middle Class in Brazil.” Brazilian Political Science Review 9(3): 21–41.
[1] The ‘New Middle Class’ study have granted Marcelo Neri a reputable role in the definition of policy directions, been appointed as president of Institute for Applied Economic Research – IPEA from 2012 to 2014 and Minister of Brazil Intelligence Agency – SEA from 2013 to 2015.

Klein, C. H., Mitchell, S. T., & Junge, B. 2018. “Naming Brazil’s previously poor: ‘New middle class’ as an economic, political, and experiential category”. Economic Anthropology, 5(1), 83–95.

Neri, M. 2011. A Nova Classe Média: O Lado Brilhante da base da Pirâmide. São Paulo, Editora Saraiva.

Pochmann, Márcio. 2012. Nova classe média? São Paulo: Boitempo Editorial.

Souza, J. et al. 2009. A ralé brasileira: quem é e como vive. Belo Horizonte, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.

Souza, J. et al. 2010. Os batalhadores brasileiros: nova classe média ou nova classe trabalhadora?. Belo Horizonte, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.

Yaccoub, H. 2011. “A chamada ‘nova classe média’: Cultura material, inclusão e distinção social”. Horizontes Antropológicos, 17(36), 197–231.

Villas Bôas, Bruno. 2017. News. “Na retomada, renda da classe ‘A’ sobe 6 vezes mais depressa”. Jornal Valor Econômico, 12/09/2017. http://www.valor.com.br/brasil/5115278/na-retomada-renda-da-classe-sobe-6-vezes-mais-depressa