Professor of Economics Erol Balkan is the co-author of a chapter in the recently published book Globalization and Higher Education.
“Globalization, Middle-class Formation, and ‘Quality’ Education: Hyper-competition in Istanbul, Turkey” appears as chapter 11 and was written with Professor of Anthropology Emeritus Henry Rutz. The chapter focuses on within-class competition among families in the globalizing city of Istanbul, Turkey.
Describing their contribution to the book the authors said, “It is about competition within the middle class and increasing differentiation between a fraction known as the New Middle Class and the older core middle class of industrial corporate and public administrative managers and other professionals.
“Rapid increase in the demand for quality education has created hyper-competition over access to the best schools among families within and between these fractions,” they added.
Balkan and Rutz concluded that, “Increasing inequality within the middle class is only one aspect of cultural conflict in an era of globalization. Issues of social justice and cultural rights generally need to be framed by an awareness of class dynamics.”
Part of the Global Studies series by Common Ground Publishing, Globalization and Higher Education was edited by Jonathan Westover of Utah Valley University.
