Obama is arguing for his activist agenda not on the basis of class consciousness, which is alien to America, but as a defense of middle-class morality, which is central to it.

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But workers in China's coastal factories have hitherto shown little class-consciousness.

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The other set of worst car names are ones that seem to be a calculated attempt to play upon consumer class-consciousness and social insecurities.

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Personal identity yields to collectivized class or demographic consciousness.

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On the other, education exacerbated his self-consciousness about class, not least his self-confessed obsession with his own cultural proficiency compared to that of his peers, many of whom were solidly middle class.

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Mr. Khan is banking on appealing to a rising Pakistani middle class, rapid growth in the youth population and a new public consciousness about the nature of the country's ills thanks to a vigorous, expanding news media rife with political talk shows.

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