The Sum of Small Things
A Theory of the Aspirational Class
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The Sum of Small Things
Narrated by:
Rachel Dulude
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Narrated by:
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Rachel Dulude
About this listen
In today's world, the leisure class has been replaced by a new elite. Highly educated and defined by cultural capital rather than income bracket, these individuals earnestly buy organic, carry NPR tote bags, and breast-feed their babies. They care about discreet, inconspicuous consumption - like eating free-range chicken and heirloom tomatoes, wearing organic cotton shirts and Toms shoes, and listening to the Serial podcast. They use their purchasing power to hire nannies and housekeepers, to cultivate their children's growth, and to practice yoga and Pilates.
In The Sum of Small Things, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett dubs this segment of society "the aspirational class" and discusses how, through deft decisions about education, health, parenting, and retirement, the aspirational class reproduces wealth and upward mobility, deepening the ever-wider class divide.
©2017 Elizabeth Currid-Halkett (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"There is a lot to learn here about the contemporary face of income inequality." ( Publishers Weekly)
As the real cost of most goods and products has fallen significantly over the past century, she argues that the new elite have replaced conspicuous consumption with inconspicuous consumption, which are still expensive pursuits with no real gains. This is an interesting concept, given the passage of time and changed mores since Veblen’s work, and the fact about the affordability of most forms of material conspicuous consumption to most people today.
Like Veblen, Currid-Halkett extends largely accurate observations of current (and then current) social norms and spending patterns to their impact on broader society. But she then goes ahead and states that this “democratization” of consumer goods, that has provided more goods to the middle class, is to their detriment as they spend more on them and therefore have less to spend on things that will pave the way for inter-generational upward mobility! This by itself sounds like an elitist critique of the masses. But to make matters worse, she then most confoundingly blames her “new elite” for precisely doing the things that she blames others for NOT doing – for spending less on goods and more on things that can lead to a more “fulfilled” life and personal growth, and for usually marrying like-minded people and trying to give their children a head start by educating them earlier and in more rounded ways
But unlike the old elite, who were rightly accused of wanting to perpetuate their dominance and exclude others based on birth and family ties, the author’s own words state that this new elite is grounded in meritocracy (as opposed to birthright), believes in the acquisition of knowledge and culture (as opposed to goods), works longer hours and is less clearly defined by economic positions (socioeconomically heterogeneous).
Hence, unlike Veblen, who made a coherent argument on the negative impact on society of the leisure class, Currid-Halkett’s attempts at a similar portrayal comes across an unnecessary attempt at building a theory out of observations, and then shrilly assigning blame on her “new elite” based on this (non)theory.
The book does have some interesting chapters and observations. The description of changes in the means of signaling status, which have become more subtle and nuanced, is interesting. The observation of how the focus has shifted from conspicuous consumption to “conspicuous production” – think limited edition goods, organic foodstuffs with clear provenance and the like - and “inconspicuous consumption” is also very insightful. And the description of practices (signifying inconspicuous consumption) such as practicing yoga or gymming regularly, drinking almond milk, taking kids to hockey rather than soccer, breast feeding babies longer, and reusing grocery bags every week are markers of status.
But the question remains, what’s the big problem with this? Apparently, these lead to higher inequality, which is the primary grouse. But apart from stating that inequality has gone up as the definition of the leisure class has changed, there is nothing here to suggest a clear cause and effect pattern. To impugn that this is bad for society and they be discouraged from such behavior is simply absurd. As is the author’s judgement that this new elite has “appropriated” certain behaviours and goods (such as those mentioned above).
Sadly, this is a book that may appeal to populists and nativists, as a matter of convenience since they can use these arguments to justify their policies and thoughts.
Ambitious, but falls short
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More nuanced approach to statistical aspects of expenditure needed
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