The New Indian Middle Class: Work and Gender in the Global Workplace

AYESHA RAJ

Publication

The New Indian Middle Class: Work and Gender in the Global Workplace

AYESHA RAJ

Abstract

The policies of economic liberalization that were implemented by the Indian Government from the 1990s exposed the Indian economy and society to global trends. This process created a new Indian middle class which is differentiated from its pre-liberalization counterpart in distinct ways. This PhD research project is an exploration of new Indian middle class attitudes towards work and women at work. It addresses the changing nature of `loyalty in organizations? in relation to globalized work institutions characterized by shorter contracts, weakening of the trade union movement and flexible forms of work. I also examine the intersection of work and gender within the new middle class in terms of perceptions of women?s loyalty in organizations, as well as the strategies adopted by middle class women to challenge conventional notions about women in the workplace.