The rising middle class could not afford the elite’s strategy of spatial self-segregation

Evidence

The sociological characteristic of the middle class is its openness at either boundary, whereas it is typical of the nobility, albeit with modifications, to be closed at both. Upward and downward, the middle class expands; the nobility repulses. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 485 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Social distance maintained by etiquette or replaced by spatial segregation undergirds hierarchy; The middle class is open at both boundaries while nobility is closed at both — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 485; Financial risk-taking emerges in middle classes as a response to top-end inequality. — Neil Fligstein & Adam Goldstein, The Emergence of a Finance Culture in…, 3

Related

• The middle class is open at both boundaries while nobility is closed at both (similarity 0.90)
• Bourgeois rule absorbs and assimilates society, unlike closed-caste prior ruling classes (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Social distance maintained by etiquette or replaced by spatial segregation undergirds hierarchy #expands (0.60)
• The middle class is open at both boundaries while nobility is closed at both #complicates (0.55) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 485