In the US the plan to rescue the middle classes is one of Obama's pledges.
 What about in Italy? It is difficult to mark out boundaries and identify the reasons for the malaise of the middle classes

ROME - The president elect of the United States has pledged that "a plan to rescue the middle classes" will be one of his priorities once he is installed in the Oval Office. But while there has been talk of the "malaise of the middle classes" for years all over the western world, the solutions have not been found. "Ceto medio. Perché e come occuparsene" (Why and how to deal with the middle classes", is the title of the book published by Il Mulino, which showcases the initial findings of researches conducted by a working group set up by the Consiglio italiano per le Scienze Sociali, consisting of 12 researchers and 18 scholarship holders. The project is coordinated by sociologist Arnaldo Bagnasco.

Professor, why is it so important to save the middle classes?

"What we know is that a strong crisis of the middle classes has always had a negative bearing on democracy. It is of course dangerous to make comparisons with the past, but when for instance in Germany there was a strong drift towards a totalitarian regime, in the years that took Hitler to power, there was certainly the involvement of farmers and factory workers, but the main point was that there was a politically illiterate middle class, unable to provide any cultural sway. We must be afraid of a culturally and politically disoriented middle class".

Just what triggered the crisis of the middle classes?

"We began our investigation about a year ago. Our idea was that a good understanding can be obtained about current changes if one begins to look in the middle of the social ladder. The question of the middle classes was raised first by journalistic investigations, and not only in Italy, but in particular in the United States, where the middle class is the core not only of society, but also of the idea of society. The American dream is basically this: the possibility for everyone to attain a secure and reasonable position in society. In the United States this prospect underwent a crisis due to the unrestrained liberalism of the market. For which reason there was a compressing of the part of the social structure that was in the middle: many fell downwards, a few were pushed upwards. This happened in Italy too. Thus the idea of the middle class as a condition of full social citizenship hit a crisis too".

Who forms part of the middle classes today?

"60 per cent of the population used to be middle class; now this percentage has gone down a little, to between 50 and 60 per cent. This includes the self-employed and employees, in both the public and private sectors. A portion of the population which, on the basis of its own resources or with the contribution of welfare systems, compared with the past has acquired a secure position, good income levels, guaranteed healthcare coverage and tranquillity in old age. A part of this population now considers itself at risk, and is in difficulty. And it is difficult to re-position it, because it cannot be defined as working class: it is a middle class in difficulty. The problem concerns younger generations in particular, who sense a difficult entry into adult life".

But is it only economic status that defines the middle class, and so are the solutions to the crisis only economic in nature?

"When one talks about the middle class, one refers not only to income and consumption levels, but also to precise choices. There is an important question of status, of habits that those in the middle classes will not easily forsake: holidays, entertainment, dining out; the cultural dimensions are very important, so they have to be studied in depth".

So what should a policy in favour of the middle classes contain? In the United States president-elect Obama appears to have clear ideas, while in Italy proposals are awaited.

"With our initial findings we intend to steer public discussion towards new prospects in the political arena. In coming months we have a series of public initiatives planned, during the course of which we will discuss with various experts the implications of our researches. Bearing in mind that there is  a bit of everything in the middle classes: Sylos Labini spoke about 'mice in the cheese' to indicate classes closed within themselves. But there is also a middle class in development, made up chiefly of craftsmen and small businessmen. There are also middle-class, or potential middle-class, immigrants. There are now blue-collar workers too entering this category. There are different strategies, but we can rearrange them in a global policy".

(Repubblica - November 29, 2008)