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The Global Bourgeoisie: the Rise of the Middle Class in the Age of Empire

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The Global Bourgeoisie: the Rise of the Middle Class in the Age of Empire The Global Bourgeoisie: The Rise of the Middle Class in the Age of Empire. Christof Dejung, University of Cambridge / Universität Konstanz; David Motadel, University of Cambridge / University of Edinburgh; Jürgen Osterhammel, Universität Konstanz, 27.08.2015–29.08.2015. Reviewed by Ghassan Moazzin Published on H-Soz-u-Kult (October, 2015) In August 2015 a truly global array of scholars also pointed out that despite its breadth, the con‐ gathered at the University of Cambridge to discuss ference programme did not cover certain aspects the emergence of the global bourgeoisie in the (such as gender roles in the formation of middle long 19th century. Supported by the Fritz Thyssen classes) or regions. At the same time, he stressed Foundation, the Economic History Society, the that the conference did not aim to provide an all German History Society, the Leibnizpreis pro‐ embracing conclusion, but rather understands it‐ gramme 'Global Processes' of the German Re‐ self as a frst step towards a study of the global search Foundation, and the Smuts Memorial Fund bourgeoisie. of the University of Cambridge, the conference The frst panel dealt with the connections be‐ brought together historians working on different tween class and politics. HOUCHANG CHEHABI regions ranging from East and Southeast Asia, (Boston) discussed the rise of the middle class in Russia, the Middle East and Europe to Africa and Iran. He described how starting in the 19th centu‐ the Americas. They discussed the question what ry and reinforced by the Europeanisation propa‐ similarities and differences there existed amongst gated by the state after 1925, a dual society with different “middle classes” and “bourgeois cul‐ two middle classes emerged in Iran, with one tures” that emerged across the globe in the long middle class remaining critical of the West and 19th century and to what extent connections, in‐ the other aspiring to Western lifestyles. Next, teractions and interdependencies between these ADAM MESTYAN (Cambridge, MA) explored the social groups contributed to the rise of a truly important role religion played in the formation of global bourgeoisie. Arab middle class culture in the Ottoman empire. In his introductory remarks, DAVID MO‐ Using charitable organisations as an example, he TADEL (Cambridge/Edinburgh) highlighted the argued that in contrast to Western secular moder‐ aim of the conference to look at the global rise of nity, the rise of various Arab middle classes was a new middle class in the age of empire and based on a distinct religious modernity that stressed the need to both engage in global com‐ stressed solidarity among the people, and not par‐ parisons and examine global connections. ticipation in state affairs. MURAT SIVILOGLU’s (Is‐ CHRISTOF DEJUNG (Cambridge/Konstanz) then tanbul) paper focused on the relationship be‐ explained that the rise of different “middle class‐ tween the Ottoman state and the emergence of an es” in the 19th century can be an important new Ottoman middle class. Siviloglu explained that approach towards a global social history. Dejung traditionally the Ottoman state viewed the bour‐ H-Net Reviews geoisie as a danger to the state and suppressed it. The second panel on the subject of class and While a commercial class did nevertheless exist, capitalism started with a presentation by JANET the intelligentsia did not show any interest in HUNTER (London) on the rise of the Japanese merging with them. In the fnal presentation of middle class in the long 19th century. While the panel, CHRISTOF DEJUNG examined the emer‐ Hunter argued that by the interwar period a new gence of the European middle classes during the middle class had indeed emerged, especially de‐ 19th century from a global and postcolonial per‐ fined by new patterns of consumption and occu‐ spective. Dejung explained how both the mission‐ pation, she also stressed that this new social ary movement of the 19th century and European group grew out of and remained connected to an reactionaries in the early 20th century constantly older group of commercial elites, lower officials, compared the metropolitan underclass to colonial skilled artisans, scholars and wealthy farmers. In subjects abroad and related domestic socio-politi‐ the next paper REBECCA KARL (New York) dis‐ cal conditions with processes on the periphery to cussed how Chinese Marxist thinker Wang Yanan deal with the rapid transformation of the world in in his writings connected the Chinese bourgeoisie the age of empire. to the broader evolution of a global comprador The frst day of the conference ended with the formation. Karl explained that Wang saw the Chi‐ keynote lecture by RICHARD DRAYTON (London). nese comprador bourgeoisie not as a Chinese but Drayton argued that the period of European hege‐ as part of a global class structure, which facili‐ mony and global integration and linkage from the tates processes of primitive accumulation in the mid-18th to the mid-20th century produced medi‐ global capitalist economy. CHAMBI CHACHAGE ating groups around the world, be they called (Cambridge, MA) looked at the connection be‐ Bürgertum, bourgeoisie or middle class. He ex‐ tween alcohol and class formation in colonial plained that in so far as we can think of a global Tanzania. He described how colonial legislation bourgeoisie, its members recognised themselves banned Africans from producing, distributing or according to race, class and culture, which be‐ consuming European liquor. As a consequence, came the critical axes for status identity in an in‐ towards the end of the colonial period and after ternational society dominated by Europe. the lifting of this prohibition wealthy Africans used European liquor as a symbol of status to dis‐ The second day started with a comment by tinguish themselves as a new economic elite. JÜRGEN OSTERHAMMEL (Konstanz) on the dis‐ SVEN BECKERT (Cambridge, MA) charted the glob‐ cussions of the frst day and the keynote lecture. al entanglements of the American bourgeoisie Osterhammel emphasised the need to differenti‐ from an economic, social, cultural and ideological ate historical analysis of the global bourgeoisie perspective. Beckert showed that the American from present day views of the middle class as the bourgeoisie developed partly an understanding of harbinger of civil society. From this follows that itself as a transnational social class. He stressed historians need to critically think about how to that bourgeois class formation should be under‐ define what the global bourgeoisie means and stood as a global project, while also emphasising how a history of the global bourgeoisie can be that these transnational entanglements always de‐ written that is not simply anecdotal. Osterhammel veloped in close connection to the nation state. suggested that historians should in their analysis focus on processes of group formation, the func‐ The third panel on class and colonialism was tion of middle elements in society as mediators of opened by TITHI BHATTACHARYA (West circulations, and patterns of inclusion, exclusion Lafayette, IN), who explored the role of the Indian and recognition of global middle class status. middle class in the construction of the nation as an aspiration and in the rise of the nation state as 2 H-Net Reviews a political project. She delivered a critique of pre‐ that exacerbated and problematised these inter‐ vious studies of multiple modernities, arguing nal sources of confusion. DAVID S. PARKER that different articulations of modernity should (Kingston, ON) scrutinised how Latin American not be seen as alternative forms of European intellectuals depicted their bourgeoisie as imper‐ modernity, but as part of a singular ongoing fect, failed, or absent in comparison to an ideal‐ project of universal human emancipation. EMMA ized image of the European bourgeoisie, in order HUNTER (Edinburgh) then returned to East Africa to explain their own nations’ underdevelopment. and discussed how newspapers and print media He charted how these diagnoses developed from contributed to the rhetoric construction of an East focusing on a backward Spanish heritage during African middle class. Hunter stressed that the so‐ the mid-19th century to more Darwinist ideas at cial groups she discussed did not use the term the turn of the centuries and nationalist and anti- “middle class” to refer to themselves and did not imperialist viewpoints by the 1920s. Finally, KRIS possess the wealth, political rights or transnation‐ MANJAPRA (Medford, MA) explored the function al social connections of middle classes in Europe of a particular fraction of the global bourgeoisie, or America. However, print media still allowed namely service professionals like accountants, en‐ them to transcend the colonial reality and imag‐ gineers or statisticians, in the global regime of ine themselves as part of a global collective striv‐ colonial capitalism. Manjapra described how ing for progress. BERNHARD C. SCHÄR (Zürich) these service professionals, who offered their used the “nature-nurture controversy” between knowledge to colonial states in the semiperiphery, Swiss botanist Alphonse de Candolle and British were produced out of the dependency of the 19th polymath Francis Galton in the late 19th century century world economy on the spread of planta‐ to map the shared features and fragmentations tion frontiers and the expansion of agricultural within the trans-imperial character of the Euro‐ capitalism. pean bourgeoisie. Schär highlighted the impor‐ The concluding discussion revisited many tance of early modern networks in forging trans- themes and questions that had already appeared imperial connections within the modern Euro‐ in the debates of the preceding panels. One of the pean bourgeoisie and stressed that an investiga‐ recurrent questions was whether it makes sense tion of competing visions of European modernity to talk about a global bourgeoisie and how to de‐ within Europe can help us to complicate homoge‐ fine it without being tied to a European ideal type. nizing notions of “Europe” or the “West.” Some discussants also raised the importance of in‐ The conference’s closing panel revolved vestigating processes of social group formation around the theme of fringes and failures.
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