On the way to being middle class

As millions of urban residents in the majority world attain middle-class status, there is not only a great deal of ambiguity as to what exactly being middle class is, but also an occlusion of many efforts residents themselves have made to attain this status. Because multiple routes have been pursued to improve livelihoods, as well as different conditions and support, there is also a growing ambivalence about the various implications of this attainment. At times, the performance of such status seems to require relinquishing important livelihood practices. While availed of increased consumption, assets and relative autonomy, many such residents are wary of the heightened vulnerabilities that new forms of livelihood and individuation posit. As increased accumulation has been predicated on both the changing global positions of national production systems and the long-term incremental efforts of residents themselves, how the divergent implications of these distinct routes to middle-class status are negotiated on a day-to-day basis are critical issues for the elaboration of urban politics. Focusing on Jakarta, the paper considers some of the ways in which an emergent middle class have improved livelihoods and opportunities, as well as how they hedge their bets in the pursuit of lifestyles and norms conventionally associated with middle-class status.