Paper short abstract:

This paper examines current debates in Peru with regard to the changing nature of class following the increased consumer power of the formerly poor.

Paper long abstract:

This paper looks at data from Peru to examine where the debate around the so-called 'new middle classes' currently stands. While there is a clear reduction in poverty, and some indication of newly gained consumer power among previously poor communities, there are also indications that the boundaries between poverty and social mobility are fragile. In addition, the emerging literature raises questions around the relationship between marginally increased consumption power and differentiated citizenship. Are structural inequalities based on gender, race, ethnicity and perceptions of class being overcome or are these divisions continuous? How do Peruvians define 'middle classes', new and old, and how does this affect people's wellbeing?