Middle class and social mobility in Colombia

Abstract

On the basis of the analysis of social classes as an expression of social inequality, the article examines the theoretical and methodological principles used to explain the expansion of the middle class in Colombia. From the perspective of social mobility, we consider the dynamics of life opportunities in a class of origin and a class of destination as the product of intra- or inter-generational changes. Despite the diversity of methods and cut-off points to define and measure social classes, we highlight the growth of the middle class in Colombia and Latin America during the last decade. In Colombia, however, this growth is framed in the paradoxical situation of a persisting concentration of income. The changes within the class experiencing that social mobility help explain the paradox. Likewise, we identify the theories and approaches used to analyze social class and social mobility in sociology and economics, where interdisciplinary crossings are particularly favorable as they integrate the analysis of social stratification with the processes of production and distribution of wealth. We review the methods employed to carry out studies of social mobility and the sources for the data, and also show how social mobility has become part of the economic and social public policy agenda. Finally, we present those studies on the evaluation component of the analysis of the middle class, which state that it is not clear whether this class has a homogeneous set of values or a majority position in favor of democracy. As part of the conclusions, we affirm that although the analysis of social mobility on the basis of social classes is adequate at the conceptual level, in practice, the expansion of the middle class in Colombia has brought about more opportunities for this population group. However, that class is threatened due to its vulnerability and substantial improvements in policies are required in order to alleviate the concentration of income.