Table Of ContentFRONTIERS OF GLOBALIZATION
Inequality, Socio-cultural
Differentiation and Social
Structures in Africa
Beyond Class
Dieter Neubert
Frontiers of Globalization
Series Editor
Jan Nederveen Pieterse
Global Studies Department
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
With the onset of the twenty-first century, key components of the
architecture of twentieth-century globalization have been crumbling.
American hegemony has weakened politically and economically.
Laissez-faire capitalism that shaped neoliberal globalization has proved
to be crisis-prone and is giving way to a plurality of ways of organiz-
ing and regulating capitalism. With the rise of emerging societies, the
driving forces of the world economy are shifting not merely geograph-
ically but structurally; industrializing societies, rather than postindus-
trial consumer societies, are again propelling the world economy. These
changes involve major breaks: an era of multipolarity; the affirmation of
the plurality of capitalisms; the emergence of new modernities; and the
new patterns of East-South and South-South relations, in contrast to
the North-South relations. These changes unfold on a global scale and
cannot be properly understood on a national, regional or even interna-
tional basis. Understanding these changes requires interdisciplinary and
kaleidoscopic approaches that range from global political economy to
cultural transformations. The series welcomes contributions to global
studies that are innovative in topic, approach or theoretical framework.
Amid the fin-de-regime of the millennium, with globalization in the
throes of dramatic change, the series will cater to the growing interest in
material on contemporary globalization and its ramifications. Proposals
can be submitted by mail to the series editor: Jan Nederveen Pieterse,
Mellichamp Professor of Global Studies and Sociology, Global &
International Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara,
CA 93106-7065, USA.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14992
Dieter Neubert
Inequality,
Socio-cultural
Differentiation
and Social Structures
in Africa
Beyond Class
Dieter Neubert
University of Bayreuth
Bayreuth, Germany
Frontiers of Globalization
ISBN 978-3-030-17110-0 ISBN 978-3-030-17111-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17111-7
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: © iStockphoto.com
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Acknowledgements
This book has been made possible by the support of institutions and
people to whom I am very grateful. I can only name the most important
of them. First, my sincere thanks go to the Volkswagen Foundation. The
“Opus Magnum” programme with its one-year writing grant was the
motivation to develop this book project and the grant offered me the
chance to realise it. Many ideas presented in this book were discussed,
criticised and further developed in the coordinated research project
“Future Africa. Visions in Time”, and its sub-project “Middle Class on
the Rise”, funded by the German Ministry for Education and Science
(2012–2018). I am extremely grateful for the ongoing intensive discus-
sions in the sub-project on the socio-cultural differentiation of middle
classes in Africa, their socio-economic conditions and the question of
insecurity and uncertainty. The findings and arguments of the anthro-
pological wing of the project with Erdmute Alber, Lena Kroeker and
Maike Voigt provided important inputs for this book, especially in
Chapters 5, 6 and 8. My joint work with Florian Stoll in the sociolog-
ical wing resulted in the idea of adapting the German milieu concept
to African contexts. Florian Stoll’s empirical fieldwork contributed the
v
vi Acknowledgements
main empirical evidence. Without Florian and the other members of
this joint project, I would not have been able to develop my framework.
I would also like to mention Georg Klute who introduced me to the
debate on neo-traditional authorities in Africa. The critique of contribu-
tions made by Florian Stoll and myself to a number of panels on mid-
dle classes in Africa and the Global South was very helpful. Especially
discussions with Sergio Costa, Dominique Darbon, Carola Lentz, Elísio
Macamo, Henning Melber, Boike Rehbein, Rachel Spronk and Roger
Southall contributed to the development of my framework, even if they
pursued different aims. Of course, all misunderstandings and mistakes
are mine. Finally, a big thank you to Ruth Schubert who helped to pol-
ish my English.
Contents
1 Introduction: The Middle Class Debate and Its Limits 1
2 Poverty and Inequality in Development Policy:
Concepts of Poverty, Vulnerability and Livelihood 57
3 Class and Capitalism in the Global South:
A Perspective on Africa 85
4 Elements of Socio-Cultural Positioning in Africa 129
5 Patterns of Individual Social Positioning:
Gender, Age and Disability 199
6 Risks and Aspirations: Strategies for Coping
with Uncertainty 235
7 Extended Concepts of Social Positioning 279
vii
viii Contents
8 A New Framework for the Analysis of Social
Structures in Sub-Saharan Africa 329
9 Conclusion 407
Index 419
List of Figures
Fig. 7.1 Sinus-Meta-milieus® for emerging markets 307
Fig. 8.1 Clusters of social situations 356
Fig. 8.2 Milieu diamonds 387
ix
