New middle classes: globalizing lifestyles, consumerism and environmental concern / Hellmuth lange ,Lars Meier

1. Who are the New Middle Classes and Why are They Given So Much Public Attention?-Part I. Modernities, Globalization and Consumption.- 2. Convergence and Divergence in Societal Modernization: Global Trends, Regional Variations, and Some Implications for Sustainability.- 3. Consumerist Lifestyles in the Context of Globalization - Investigating Scenarios of Homogenization, Diversification and Hybridization.- 4. Who are the Globalizers? - The Role of Education and Educational Elites.- 5. Provider Strategies and the Greening of Consumption Practices - Exploring the Role of Companies in Sustainable Consumption.- 6. From Small Objects to Cars: Consumption Expansion in East Asia.-Part II. New Middle Classes in China, Brazil, Ecuador and Israel.- 7. Rising Capitalism, Emerging Middle-Classes and Environmental Perspectives in China: A Weberian Approach.- 8. Globalization of Lifestyle: Golfing in China.- 9. Who are the Knowledge Workers of Campinas, SP, Brazil and How Do They Live? Local Impacts of Global Trends.- 10. Sustainability of a Life Mas Comodo? Agricultural Change, Remaking Families, and the Emerging Indigenous Middle Class in the Ecuadorian Andes.- 11. New Middle Class and Environmental Lifestyle in Israel.-Part III. New Middle Classes in India.- 12. The Political Economy of Lifestyle - Consumption, India's New Middle Class and State-led Development.- 13. 'Environmentality' in the Neoliberal City: Attitudes, Governance and Social Justice.- 14. India's 'New Middle Class' and the Globalising City: Software Professionals in Bangalore, India.- 15. The Changing Food Scenario and the Middle Classes in the Emerging Megacity of Hyderabad, India.- 16. Highly Qualified Employees in Bangalore, India - Consumerist Predators?-Index.

This book analyzes the middle class in terms of attitudes and preferences as well as socio-economic features and governmental policies. It provides original contributions from internationally renowned researchers that bring fresh multidisciplinary insights