Nova classe média: um debate científico ou ideológico?

Abstract

This research aimed to: (i) demonstrate the contributions of Classical Sociology to concepts of class and middle class, central in the New Brazilian Middle Class discussion, using the contributions of marxism (emphasis on neo-Marxist Erik Olin Wright) and Weber strands (mainly the neoweberian Charles Wright Mills); (ii) point out the conditioning and ideological disputes underlying the debate of the New Middle Class, using Karl Mannheim’s Sociology of Knowledge Theory. For this, a classification was carried out for the authors included in the debate according to four ideological orientations: Strong Reformism, Weak Reformism, Strict Liberalism and Critical or Radical Skeptic. This ideological classification, together with public and political aspects of the debate, demonstrate that discussions about the New Middle Class is closer to an ideological-political confrontation than a scientific debate. This allowed to infer some limits in the discussions and suggests new questions and approaches to the New Middle-Class debate.