One of the main features of the social class category is its awareness of itself as “a feeling of a common identity characteristic of members of a particular social class” (Abercrombie N., et al. Sociological Dictionary, 1997). Moreover, the social class is a long-term education, in contrast, for example, from the consumer layer. An important specificity of the concept is the inheritance of belonging to a class of society.
Study background
As noted by A.Sh. Zhvitiashvili (“Interpretation of the concept of“ class ”in modern Western sociology”, 2005), the attention of science to the problem of classes, as well as class relations, was due to two factors:
- recognition of the limited nature of a similar theory in the works of Karl Marx;
- active attention to the transformation processes in the Russian state and countries of Eastern Europe.
Moreover, the question of the appropriateness of distinguishing the middle class category in our society remains open to this day, both in domestic and foreign sociological theory.
The problem of differentiation of the concept of "social class" in Western sociology
Western science of society includes several trends in the interpretation of the concept of class. First of all, this is a rejection of the dominant economic criterion in the analysis of the class-forming process. On the one hand, this step makes the concept under study more extensive. On the other hand, the characterization of society from a socio-stratification point of view becomes less defined: the border between the concept of class and stratum becomes less distinguishable.
Signs of the middle class
From the point of view of the West German economist and statesman, the founder of the modern system of economics in Germany, Ludwig Erhard, the middle class are people whose qualitative features include the following:
- self-esteem;
- independence of opinion;
- courage to make one's own existence dependent on the productivity of one's labor;
- social sustainability;
- independence;
- the desire to declare itself in a free civil society and the world.
In turn, Edgar Savisaar, the former first Prime Minister of Estonia, highlighted such features of the middle class as:
- stable and confident social status;
- a relatively high standard of living, education, and training;
- high competitiveness in the labor market;
- clear awareness of events in society;
- political skepticism;
- sufficient independence in the analysis of information;
- a high level of effectiveness of self-realization in society;
- activity of influence on significant social processes;
- high level of civil liability;
- orientation, besides himself and his family, to the whole society as a whole.
Accordingly, in both classifications, the emphasis is not so much on the economic side of being of the middle class, but on the socio-political one.
Middle class and professional class
Comparing the totality of the middle class features identified by Erhard with those characteristics that the American sociologist Tolcott Parsons uses to define the concept of a professional, a certain coincidence can be noted. In his worldview, the Parsons professional is a supporter of liberal democratic values, including professional duty and selfless service to his clients. The presence of professionalism, according to Parsons and Storer, implies responsibility for the storage, transfer and use of specialized knowledge, high autonomy in attracting new members of the professional community, patronage from the environment, integrity, etc.
Thus, the concepts of the middle class and professional are becoming closely related in many sociological studies.
The distinction between the "old" and the "new" middle class
The semantic meaning of the concept of the middle class has a dynamic specificity that directly reflects the socio-economic characteristics of society in a certain period of time. Thus, in the modern interpretation, the middle class is a qualitatively new social phenomenon.
From the point of view of the American sociologist Charles Wright Mills, in contrast to the “new”, the “old” middle class was mainly composed of small entrepreneurs who profit from their property. In turn, the American middle class was the rural bourgeoisie, and the land that belonged to it at the same time acted as a means of production, a means of earning, and also as an investment object. Thus, the independence of the entrepreneur, who independently set the boundaries of his own professional activity, was maintained. Labor and property for the American middle class were inextricable. In addition, the social status of this category of citizens also directly depended on the state of their property.
Accordingly, the "old" middle class had a proprietary basis, as well as a clear definition of boundaries. Also, its representatives were characterized by independence from both high society and the state itself.
The functions of the middle class in society
The position of the middle class in the center of the social system ensures thereby its relative stability and sustainability. Thus, the middle class is a kind of mediator between the extreme poles of the stratification structure of society. Moreover, for the optimal implementation of the intermediary function, it is necessary that this layer of society have a sufficient number.
On the other hand, as many Russian sociologists note, the conditions of mass character are not enough to ensure the fulfillment of the functions of a stabilizer and a source of development of the social system that the middle class is oriented towards. This implementation is possible only if the middle class meets certain political and economic characteristics: law-abiding, mindful actions and the ability to defend their own interests, independence of opinion, etc.
Western tradition
Initially, in Western scientific thought, the middle class was identified with the people and the masses in general. For example, in the concept of Ortega y Gasset, the representative of the middle class is mediocrity in the field of knowledge and skills. At Hegel, he appears as a formless mass - without any specific goals and ideals.
There is a significant difference between domestic and foreign approaches to the category of the middle class in society. For example, the middle class in Europe, from the point of view of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in addition to economic capital allocated as a dominant in Marxist theory, must rely on social, cultural and symbolic capital. One of the forms of symbolic capital, Bourdieu considered political. Ownership was documented when it came to economic ownership. In the case of its cultural part, confirmation was considered a diploma or academic rank. Social property was confirmed by the noble title. Thus, a full-fledged characteristic of a middle-class society was formed.
Another important point to note. In the Western tradition, the middle layers of society are aware of the fact that private property is not just an object of appropriation, but is also accompanied by the need to perform a number of public functions. Otherwise, she cannot be inviolable, remaining open to encroachment by other people.
The debatable nature of the problem of the middle class in Russian society
The middle class in Russia represents a separate category for scientific polemic in sociological theory. For example, some Western sociologists deny the existence of this layer of society during the functioning of the USSR and during the transition to the post-Soviet system (Zhvitiashvili, 2005). From the point of view of H. Balzer, in the Russian socio-stratification structure there is a middle layer, however, it differs from the classical understanding of the concept of “middle class” in society.
In turn, the Russian sociologist A.G. Levinson writes that the question of the existence of a middle class in Russia as an empirically verified object in itself is not significant. In this case, it is only a name assigned to a certain group of people, or an interpretation of some results. The question of the existence of a middle class in Russia should be decided not in the environment where applied or fundamental research of society is conducted, but in the environment of public and public institutions, as an example - in the framework of public opinion. Moreover, as the author notes, for many researchers included in the discussion about the presence / absence of the middle class in Russian society, differentiation of such concepts as “intelligentsia”, “specialist”, “middle link”, etc. is preferable.
The characteristic of the middle class in the structure of modern Russian society
Classical understanding implies a focus not only on owners of property of a certain size, but also on carriers of basic social values - socio-political activity, opposition to social manipulation, personal dignity and independence, etc. Meanwhile, in the Russian state in the early 90's. reformers considered property relations in society exclusively from the economic side.
Even at present, there are vestiges of this perception when any “brother” of the “Solntsevo or Tambov mafia” is attributed to the “pillar of civil society” (R. Simonyan “Middle Class: Social Mirage or Reality?”, 2009) - for example, based on the presence of two cars in the family, etc.
In this connection, certain paradoxes arise in Russian sociological theory when the middle class in Russia includes primarily private businessmen, and not engineers, doctors or teachers. The reason for this “skew” is the fact that private business representatives have much higher incomes than the aforementioned specialists.
Many researchers, noting that there is an average consumer class in Russian society, believe that for its transformation into a full-fledged class, a number of conditions must be created:
- structural transformations of the economy;
- the formation of a special worldview position;
- changes in the psychology of society;
- revision of stereotypes of behavior, etc.
In any case, the process of forming a full-fledged middle class in Russian society requires a fairly long period of time.
The criminal past and present of the middle class in Russia
The primitive division into layers of society from the point of view of the economic criterion as a distorted understanding of Marxist theory had a certain justification. There are many representatives of the materially wealthy and super-rich population in Russian society. However, the question arises of how much a high-ranking official or large businessman taking bribes can be classified as a citizen from the standpoint of the strict socio-political meaning of the word. The fact that they are not free stops already. These are not so much citizens, as accomplices tied to power (Simonyan, 2009).
The privatization system in Russia also had its negative impact on the specifics of the formation of the concept of “middle social class”. Instead of the so-called enrichment of the people, the largest state scam was conducted on the distribution of common material wealth between individual representatives of private business. This situation only strengthened the corruption of the state structure. As a result, the modern owner of capital is least likely to meet the requirements of the classical representative of the group represented as the middle class. This is a carrier, as S. Dzarasov notes, primarily of a criminal, but in no way rational type of consciousness.
The problem is that this category of people is capable of capturing other people's goods and at the same time is completely unable to create. This is not to say that it was about the unawareness of the crime of these actions. Middle-class people of this category, with a full understanding of the illegality of the acquired property, are related to it - not as a well-deserved good, but as a welcome booty and personal privilege.
Accordingly, the modern Russian nomenclature does not recognize any public functions for this property. She rejects the very concept of the public good, in contrast to the way the middle-class Western society interprets it. In this regard, the vast majority of the Russian population refuses to recognize the results of privatization of the early 90s. Meanwhile, in order to respect the inviolability of property, it is necessary that it be of a legitimate nature. Only under this condition, private property becomes the economic basis of a full-fledged civil society.
Thus, the criminal side of society being not only does not contribute to the formation of the middle class, but also leads to a deformation of the given concept itself, on which the social characteristic of the class is based.