Abel Lopez

This dissertation historicizes the transnational formation of the middle class in Bogotá, Colombia, from the 1940s through the 1960s. Specifically, it looks at how those actors who considered themselves middle class made sense of the dramatic expansion of the US role in the Americas, the advance of international development agencies, the consolidation of populism as a political practice, the remarkable growth of the Colombian nation-state, and the triumph of consumer societies. Moreover, these actors not only experienced these crucial historical changes, but also created social boundaries, gender distinctions, and racial categorizations in their effort to constantly find and (re-) define their social place in a transnational changing society.