Nouveau riche are rich people who acquired their wealth within their own generation.
The equivalent English term is the new rich or new money.
Sociologically, nouveau riche describes the man or woman who previously had belonged to
a lower social class and economic stratum within that class; and that the new money—which
constitutes his or her wealth—allowed upward social mobility and provided the means for
conspicuous consumption, the buying of goods and services that signal membership in an
upper class.
As a pejorative term, nouveau riche effects distinctions of type, the given stratum within
a social class; hence, among the rich people of a social class, nouveau riche describes
the vulgarity and ostentation of the new-rich man and woman who lack the worldly experience
and the system of values of Old Money, of inherited wealth, such as the patriciate and
the gentry.
History The idea of nouveau riche dates at least as
far back as Ancient Greece.
In the 6th century BC, the poet and aristocrat Theognis of Megara wrote how “in former
days, there was a tribe who knew no laws nor manners ... These men are nobles, now, the
gentlemen of old are now the trash.”
In the Roman Republic the term "Novus Homo" carried similar connotations.
Social status One can define social status in relation to
wealth, and to the power granted by the wealth.
It has been argued that the upper, ruling classes have legitimized "[...] their rule
with claims of status and honor and moral superiority".
Ruling classes make claims in defense of the ascribed superiority of wealth inherited through
“blood . . . and the concept of proper breeding.”
The nouveau riche man and woman are juxtaposed against the people of the Old Money social
class; and with trans-generational, inherited wealth, in order to highlight the cultural,
value system and societal differences, between the two social groups within the class.
Old Family ties, as traditional claims of status, are not found in the nouveaux riches,
which challenges and ultimately redefines social traditions and values such as the institution
of debutantes and their debut to society.
As seen through the rise in the number of debutantes, the social value of the debut
has since shifted from the “family’s elite social standing and long family traditions”
to “a symbolic value as an element of upper-class life style.”
This transition allows for high social standing to be established by the nouveau riche through
the institution of the debut.
Social integration of these elite sects is extremely slow and sluggish, which prolongs
and strengthens stereotypes.
This rate of integration makes it more likely that the nouveaux riches will “retain identification
with the traditional…group of origin; this is the basis for division between the groups.
Furthermore, the isolation that minority nouveaux riches experience within their own class leads
them “to prioritize issues of radical justice, civil liberties, and religious tolerance over
pure economic self-interest”.
Inter-class stereotypes Often referred to as parvenu, members of the
nouveau riche are often discriminated against by the "Old Money" sects of society since
they "lack the proper pedigree."
These newcomers to economic freedom are subject to even greater scrutiny from their lack of
historical prestige as seen through Dye's comments which reference the new rich as "uncouth"
and "uncultured."
The behavior of the nouveau riche is often satirized by American society by "implying
that stereotyped, rather than real, behavior patterns are copied."
Many people have made claims to the inferiority of those with new money as compared to those
with old money.
Many have made claims that nouveaux riches "lack political and cultural sophistication"
and others make comparisons saying that the old rich are "more sophisticated than the
less cosmopolitan nouveau riche."
These assumptions further perpetuate the differences between the two and lead to even further stereotypes
and have lasted for well over a century.
In the 1920s, Mrs. Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, who herself married into a family once considered
parvenu and lacking in pedigree, protested that "the nouveau riche... is making places
like Palm Beach no more exclusive than Coney Island.
Newport, the last stronghold of the elite, has the moneyed intruder at the gates....
Undesirables are penetrating everywhere."
See also Economic inequality
Essex man Liberal élite
New Russian Nouveau poor
Old money Parvenu
Philistine Social climber
Upscale White shoe brigade
Yuppie Bourgeoisie
Snob The Great Gatsby
Novus homo References