Middle class consumption in a Portugal in crisis: culture, leisure and information technology

This paper deals with cultural and consumption practices and lifestyles, in the context of the current social and economic downturn in Portugal. One of the most striking features of the ongoing transformations is connected with the increase of social inequalities regarding the access to goods and other resources that characterize a knowledge society and to the greater use of information and communication technologies. Contrary to some views about the irrelevance of a conception of social classes, we intend to develop a perspective of "middle class", by identifying standardized social principles for structural differentiation of resources and opportunities. This theoretical-analytical approach to the middle class also aims to comprehend the repercussions of a context of economic recession and deepening inequalities, situating this social segment. This proposal is based on the empirical results of a (online) study on the income and consumption of middle-class families in Portugal, carried out at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, Lisbon University Institute (CIES-IUL) in the last quarter of 2012 and developed as part of the Project Thinking the future and finding new prospects for the sustained promotion of well-being and quality of life.

Middle class; Income standards; Consumption; Cultural practices and ICT