Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
The new middle class in India is upwardly mobile, educated mostly in English and works in professional, technical and/or managerial careers. It is connected to global networks tworks of consumption, consuming global brands and aspiring toward lifestyles of conspicuous consumption. The identity of this class is defined by its participation in global commodity chains. The market defines the identity of the middle class, as a site of identity formation, expression and aspiration. Also salient within the new middle class are several strata. The highest stratum is occupied by the white collar corporate mid-to high level managers who actively participate in transnational capitalism. What connects these various groups in the elite class is a common vision of the nation-state narrated the miracle of the market. The articulation o of the market as the centre of India's economic growth and development is the overarching anchor for the various discourses of the policy-making and implementation. The middle class in India make a of India's elite. They participate in the consumption culture of India. This culture is enabled by rapid reforms and punctuated in the rise of urban hubs of belonging. Belonging in this is in the story of consumption and lifestyles. Here consumption is equated to development and modernisation.
The new middle class in India is hugely active in:
Correct Answer :
Conspicuous consumption
Solution :
The correct option is Conspicuous consumption.
Let us break down the passage step-by-step to understand why this option is correct:
1. First, locate the reference to the "new middle class" in the text. The passage states: "The new middle class in India is upwardly mobile, educated mostly in English and works in professional, technical and/or managerial careers."
2. Next, look at their connection to consumption. The text explicitly notes: "It is connected to global networks of consumption, consuming global brands and aspiring toward lifestyles of conspicuous consumption."
3. Additionally, it highlights that "The identity of this class is defined by its participation in global commodity chains" and that "Belonging in this is in the story of consumption and lifestyles."
Therefore, the passage directly links the new middle class in India to being active in and aspiring toward lifestyles of conspicuous consumption, which makes this the correct choice.
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