Middle Class Poverty Politics: Buenos Aires and Seattle

Sarah Elwood, University of Washington
Victoria Lawson, University of Washington
Santiago Canevaro, Universidad de Buenos Aires
& Nicolas Viotti, Universidad de Buenos Aires

This transnational research project studies interactions between middle class and poorer actors, in order to better understand how, where, and under what circumstances these groups act in opposition to or in solidarity with one another. Attitudes, relationships, and interactions between middle and poorer groups are significant factors in shaping social solidarity/conflict and poverty/assistance policies, but social scientists do not yet fully understand where and when they tend to promote inclusion and alliances versus exclusion and conflict. This comparative case study addresses this gap by focusing on inter-class exchanges within two mixed-income neighborhoods in the United States and Argentina: the West Seattle area and the Chacarita neighborhood of Buenos Aires. We seek to understand the workings of cross-class poverty politics, which we define to be expressions of support or opposition to particular poverty alleviation or social assistance programs/policies, explanations for why certain people and places are middle class or impoverished, and statements that articulate what it means to be ‘poor’ or ‘middle class’. In studying the two neighborhoods we ask: What kinds of cross-class poverty politics are expressed in neighborhood-level ‘spaces of politics’ where middle and poorer groups interact with one another? Our research is important because financial crisis and economic recession continue to deepen poverty and middle class vulnerability in some parts of the world, while in other places, economic growth is spurring the emergence of a ‘new middle class’.

Contact: Victoria Lawson – lawson@uw.edu; Sarah Elwood – selwood@uw.edu; Santiago Canevaro – sancanevaro@gmail.com; Nicolas Viotti – nicolas.viotti@gmail.com