The Centre de Sciences Humaines is pleased to invite you to the CSH Seminar

by

Smriti Singh

(IIIT Delhi)

on

The Middle Class in Neo-Urban India:
Space, Class and Distinction

Followed by a discussion with Ishita Chatterjee (Jindal Global University)

On

Monday, 17 November 2025, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm IST

At

Centre de Sciences Humaines

IFI-CSH conference room (ground floor)

2 Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road, New Delhi – 110011

To register: Please fill out the registration form (TBA)

Abstract: Is the Delhi middle class same as the New York middle class? Is there a common middle classness? A coherent set of characteristics that define middle class? How do these characteristics come to become part of middle-class subjectivity/consciousness? Is there merit to situating the social class in its spatial context? The post-liberalisation rise of the ‘new’ middle class and emergence of neourban areas on the peri-urban fringe of mega cities in India have been studied as concurrent but unrelated and independent developments in the Indian context. This presentation makes a case for looking at the emerging neourban centres such as Gurugram and the rising section of ‘new’ middle class as not just concurrent but inter-acting phenomena. It makes a case for studying social class as a sociospatial category where class distinction is tied to and manifests itself through the space of the city. It proposes that middle classness is spatially situated, that is, middle class, its dispositions and its consciousness/subjectivity cannot be understood without understanding the fractures of space in which it is formulated and is manifesting. I highlight the nuances and socio-political fractures stemming from the complex dynamic of class, caste, religion and gender that manifest in neo-urban spaces and how these shape the city and community. With a detailed ethnographic study of the national capital region of Delhi, especially Gurugram, the talk explores themes such as class subjectivity, morality and social beliefs; life inside gated enclaves; family and everyday practices of class reproduction; and the process of othering and exclusivity, among others.

Speaker:

Smriti Singh is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) and associated with The Urban Research Lab at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology–Delhi (IIITD), India. Her monograph, The Middle Class in Neo-Urban India Space, Class and Distinction, was published by Routledge in 2023. She has earned her doctorate from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and was a Fulbright-Nehru scholar (2015–2016). Her research focuses on questions of urban space, community, and identity.

For more info contact:

joel[dot]cabalion[at]csh-delhi[dot]com

co[dot]lefevre[at]csh-delhi[dot]com

CSH Seminars are in hybrid mode. Please pre-register for offline and online registration before Monday, 17 November, 2:00 p.m. IST.

To attend at the venue: Please note the room capacity is limited. Seats will be reserved on a first-come first-served basis. Kindly bring ID proof to be granted access to the venue.