Dimensions of self-constitution and inequality in the narratives of the middle-class in Brazil and Argentina (1990-2020)

• Applicant: Dr. Thomas Kestler
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 516321854

As a result of the so-called narrative turn, the originally philological concept of narrative entered the spotlight of political science, which came to appreciate its wide analytical potential. The aim of the planned project is to bring this potential to fruition through a study of middle-class narratives in a specific regional and historical context – Brazil and Argentina during the decades since re-democratization. The focus is on the narratives of the middle-class as a latent social structure constituting itself in the process of narration and on the dimensions of inequality inherent in these narrations.The project starts from the premise that social structures are contingent constructions emerging from practices of discursive self-constitution. This applies in particular to social classes, which are not, in the fist place, constituted by structural conditions, but rather by imagination and discourse. These constructions, however, bring about (material) social reality and, thereby, contribute to shaping the social inequalities prevailing in both countries of interest. In conceptual terms, the study recurs to the so-called Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), which provides a systematic, comparative approach to the narrative dimension of social reality. Its main objective is to identify those narrative elements that in their totality refer to a middle-class as an imagined social category. This leads to further questions about the attributions and relations by which this category is defined. Beyond that, the kind of self-conception of the middle-class holds implications for its role and position within the democratic process. Thus, the principal research interest pertains to assessing the existence of an integrated middle-class myth (or a common meta-narration) in Brazil and Argentina over time and across different milieus. The study relies on a set of orientating questions about the structure and development of narrative patterns as well as on a series of key themes typically found in middle-class discourse to identify the evolution and characteristic narrative elements such as storylines and plots in the period between 1990 and 2020. On that ground, the relevance of middle-class narratives for the constitution and reproduction of economic, social and gender-specific inequalities will be discussed. As empirical material, the analysis relies on a representative sample of consumer magazines, which can be regarded as a main medium of middle-class discourse due to their exclusiveness and their audience. The overarching aim, therefore, is a cartography of middle-class narratives in both cases. The results of the study will be published in an English language monograph. Another concrete outcome will be the publication of an edited volume with contributions on current debates and recent developments.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants