A Tale of Two Middle Classes
What Forty Thousand Households Reveal about India’s Economic Divide
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Speaker
How has the transformation of the Indian economy over the 21st century shaped the lives of ordinary Indians?
This talk traces the evolution of India’s middle classes through data from the India Human Development Survey, a study that repeatedly interviewed more than 40,000 households between 2004 and 2024. Grounded in these lived experiences, the talk examines the size and origins of both the upper and lower middle classes, exploring their lifestyles and aspirations as they navigate a changing, and at times uncertain, economy.
This lecture is a part of Azim Premji University’s Public Lecture Series.
Presented by:
Venue: Seminar Halls
Speaker
Sonalde Desai
Sonalde Desai is a Professor and Centre Director at the NCAER-National Data Innovation Centre and Distinguished University Professor Emerita at the University of Maryland. She leads the India Human Development Survey, a nationally representative panel survey of over 47,000 households conducted between 2004 and 2024. She has published widely in Indian and international journals, served on the editorial boards of several major journals, and holds a BA from the University of Mumbai and a PhD in Sociology from Stanford University, with postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago and RAND Corporation. She was elected president of the Population Association of America for 2022 and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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