Class, Urbanity and the Environment. The Ethnography of the New Middle/Creative Class Identity in Warsaw's Industrial Suburbs

In this article we analyse local community-based concepts and practices related to establishing a new middle-class identity when under social and “environmental” pressure. We based our ethnographic inquiry in “RA” – a Warsaw suburb – well-known as a former village but now a location for industry and waste-processing plants. Its vicinity, despite being populated, is polluted by heavy traffic, noise and an unpleasant odour, all of which recently have become the stimulus for social mobilisation and intense criticism toward the local authorities and an inconsiderate urbanisation policy. A key role here is played by two organisations, both exerting a strong influence on the new middle/creative class living in gated communities – a novel phenomenon for the local sociocultural landscape. We argue that this activism and struggle for a clean environment is rooted in the post-1989 Polish politico-economic transformation and the emergence of new middle-class identity projects. Thus, we reveal that sustainable urbanisation and “green policies” in Poland are embedded in middle-class identities, and gain momentum especially when class identity and image are under threat.