Today Indias middle class numbers more than 250 million people and is growing rapidly. Public reports have focused mainly on the emerging groups consumer potential, while global views of Indias new economy range from excitement about market prospects to anxieties over outsourcing of service sector jobs. Yet the consequences of Indias economic liberalization and the expansion of the middle class have transformed Indian culture and politics. In Indias New Middle Class, Leela Fernandes digs into the implications of this growth and uncoversin the media, in electoral politics, and on the streets of urban neighborhoodsthe complex politics of caste, religion, and gender that shape this rising population. Using rich ethnographic data, she reveals how the middle class represents the political construction of a social group and how it operates as a proponent of economic democratization. Delineating the tension between consumer culture and outsourcing, Fernandes also examines the roots of Indias middle class and its employment patterns, including shifting skill sets and labor market restructuring. Through this close look at the countrys recent history and reforms, Fernandes develops an original theoretical approach to the nature of politics and class formation in an era of globalization.In this sophisticated analysis of the dynamics of an economic and political group in the making, Fernandes moves beyond reductionist images of Indias new middle class to bring to light the groups social complexity and profound influence on politics in India and beyond.Leela Fernandes is associate professor of political science at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.