The Rise of Africa's Middle Class by Melber, H

ISBN 9781776140824

Publisher: Wits University Press 2017

288 pages

Soft cover

Across Africa the narrative of “Africa rising” has taken root in a burgeoning middle class. Ambitious and increasingly affluent, this group symbolizes the values and hopes of the new Africa, and they are regarded as important agents of both economic development and democratic change. This narrative, however, obscures the complex and often ambiguous role that this group actually plays in African societies.The Rise of Africa’s Middle Class brings together a diverse range of economists, political scientists, and development experts to provide a much needed corrective, overturning the received wisdom within development circles and providing a fresh new perspective on social transformations in contemporary Africa.