Thanks to social mobility, members of society can change their status within society. This phenomenon has many features and characteristics. The nature of social mobility varies depending on the characteristics of a particular country.
The concept of social mobility
What is social mobility? This is a change by a person of his place in the structure of society. An individual can move from one social group to another. Such mobility is called vertical. At the same time, a person can change his position within the same social stratum. This is another mobility – horizontal. Moving takes the most different forms- rise or fall in prestige, change in income, promotion career ladder. Such events have a serious impact on a person's behavior, as well as his relationships with others, attitudes and interests.
The types of mobility described above modern forms after the emergence of industrial society. The ability to change one's position in society is an important sign of progress. The opposite case is represented by conservative and estate societies where castes exist. As a rule, a person is assigned to such a group from his very birth until his death. The Indian caste system is best known. With reservations, such orders existed in medieval feudal Europe, where there was a great social gap between the poor and the rich.
The history of the phenomenon
The emergence of vertical mobility became possible after the start of industrialization. About three hundred years ago, the industrial development of European countries accelerated significantly, which led to the growth of the proletarian class. At the same time, states around the world (with varying degrees of success) began to introduce a system of accessible education. It has become and still is the main channel of vertical social mobility.
At the beginning of the 20th century, most of the population of any country were workers without qualifications (or with the beginnings of general education). At the same time, mechanization and automation of production took place. The new type of economy demanded more and more highly qualified personnel. It is this need that explains the increase in the number of educational institutions and thus opportunities for social growth.
Mobility and economy
One of the features of an industrial society is that mobility in it is determined by the structure of the economy. In other words, opportunities for climbing the social ladder depend not only on personal qualities of a person (his professionalism, energy, etc.), but also on how the different branches of the country's economy are interconnected.
Mobility is not possible everywhere. It is an attribute of a society that has given its citizens equal opportunity. And although there are no absolutely equal conditions in any country, many modern states continue to move towards this ideal.
Individual and group mobility
In each country, the types and types of mobility are presented differently. Society can selectively raise some individuals up the social ladder and lower others. it natural process. For example, talented and professional people should definitely replace the mediocre ones and get their high status. Rise can be individual and group. These types of mobility differ in the number of individuals changing their status.
In an individual case, a person can increase his prestige in society due to his talents and hard work (for example, become a famous musician or receive a prestigious education). Group mobility is associated with much more complex processes, covering a significant part of society. A striking example of such a phenomenon can be changes in the prestige of the profession of engineers or a fall in the popularity of the party, which will necessarily affect the position of the members of this organization.
Infiltration
In order to achieve a change in his position in society, the individual must make certain efforts. Vertical mobility becomes possible only if a person is able to overcome all the barriers that lie between different social strata. As a rule, climbing the social ladder occurs due to the ambitions and the individual's need for his own success. Any kind of mobility is necessarily associated with the vigor of a person and his desire to change his status.
The infiltration that exists in every society weeds out people who have made insufficient efforts to change the social stratum. The German scientist Kurt Lewin even came up with his own formula, with which you can determine the likelihood of a particular person ascending in the social hierarchy. In the theory of this psychologist and sociologist, the most important variable is the energy of the individual. Vertical mobility also depends on the social conditions in which a person lives. If he meets all the requirements of society, then he will be able to undergo infiltration.
The inevitability of mobility
There are at least two reasons for the existence of the phenomenon of social mobility. First, any society invariably changes in the course of its historical development. New features may appear gradually, or they may appear instantly, as happens in the case of revolutions. One way or another, but in any society, new statuses undermine and replace the old ones. This process is accompanied by changes in the distribution of labor, benefits and responsibilities.
Secondly, even in the most inert and stagnant societies, no power can control the natural distribution of abilities and talents. This principle continues to operate even if the elite or the authorities have monopolized and limited the accessibility of education. Therefore, there is always a possibility that the top layer will be at least periodically replenished with worthy people “from below”.
Mobility across generations
Researchers identify another feature by which social mobility is determined. Generation can serve as this measure. What explains this pattern? The history of the development of very different societies shows that the situation of people of different generations (for example, children and parents) can not only differ, but, as a rule, is different. Data from Russia supports this theory. On average, with each new generation, the inhabitants of the former USSR and the Russian Federation have gradually risen and are climbing up the social ladder. This pattern also takes place in many other modern countries.
Thus, when listing the types of mobility, one should not forget about intergenerational mobility, an example of which is described above. In order to determine progress on this scale, it is enough to compare the position of two people at a certain point in their career development at approximately the same age. The measure in this case is the rank in the profession. If, for example, a father at the age of 40 was a shop manager, and a son at that age became a factory director, then this is intergenerational growth.
Factors
Slow and gradual mobility can have many factors. An important example in this series is the migration of people from rural areas to cities. International migration has played a serious role in the history of all mankind, especially since the 19th century, when it swept the whole world.
It was in this century that huge masses of the peasant population of Europe moved to the United States. You can also give an example of the colonial expansion of some empires of the Old World. The capture of new territories and the subjugation of entire nations were fertile ground for the rise of some people and the slide down the social ladder of others.
Effects
If lateral mobility mostly affects only a particular individual or group of people, then vertical mobility entails much larger consequences that are difficult to measure. There are two opposing points of view on this.
The first says that any examples of mobility in the vertical direction destroy the class structure of society and make it more homogeneous. This theory has both supporters and opponents. On the other hand, there is a point of view according to which a high level of social mobility only strengthens the system of social strata. This happens for the simple reason that people who find themselves on a higher rung of their position become interested in maintaining class differences and contradictions.
Speed
According to sociological science, the main types of social mobility have an indicator of their own speed. With its help, experts give a quantitative assessment of this phenomenon in each case. Speed is the distance that an individual travels in a certain period of time. It is measured in professional, political or economic strata.
For example, one university graduate managed to become the head of a department at his enterprise in four years of his career. At the same time, his classmate, who graduated with him, became an engineer by the end of the same term. In this case, the speed of social mobility of the first graduate is higher than that of his friend. This indicator can be influenced by the most different factors- personal aspiration, the qualities of a person, as well as his environment and circumstances associated with working in a company. The high rate of social mobility can also be inherent in processes opposite to those described above, if we are talking about a person who has lost his job.
Intensity
Considering 2 types of mobility (horizontal and vertical), one can determine the number of individuals who change their position in society. AT different countries this indicator gives different figures from each other. The larger the number of these people, the higher the intensity of social mobility. Like speed, this indicator demonstrates the nature of internal transformations in society.
If we are talking about the actual number of individuals, then the absolute intensity is determined. In addition, it can also be relative. This is the name of the intensity, determined by the proportion of individuals who have changed their position, from the total number of members of society. modern science gives different estimates of the importance of this indicator. The combination of the intensity and speed of social mobility determines the overall mobility index. With it, scientists can easily compare the state of different societies.
The future of mobility
Today, in Western and economically developed societies, horizontal mobility is gaining significant proportions. This is due to the fact that in such countries (for example, in Western Europe and the United States) society is becoming more and more classless. The differences between layers are blurred. This is facilitated by a developed system of accessible education. In rich countries, anyone can learn, regardless of their background. The only important criterion is his interest, talent and ability to acquire new knowledge.
There is another reason why the former social mobility is no longer relevant in the modern post-industrial society. Moving up becomes more and more conditional if income and financial well-being are taken as the determining factor. Today, a stable and wealthy society can introduce social benefits (as is done in the Scandinavian countries). They smooth out contradictions between people on different rungs of the social ladder. So the boundaries between the usual classes are erased.
The inviolability of the hierarchical structure of society does not mean the absence of any movement within it. At various stages, a sharp increase in one and a reduction in another layer is possible, which cannot be explained natural increase population - there is a vertical migration of individuals. We will consider these vertical movements, while maintaining the statistic structure itself, as social mobility (let us make a reservation that the very concept of “social mobility” is much broader and also includes the horizontal movement of individuals and groups).
social mobility- the totality of social movements of people, i.e. changing their social status while maintaining the stratification structure of society.
First general principles social mobility were formulated by P. Sorokin, who believed that there is hardly a society whose strata would be absolutely esoteric, i.e. allowing no traffic to cross its borders. However, history did not know a single country in which vertical mobility would be absolutely free, and the transition from one layer to another was carried out without any resistance: “If mobility were absolutely free, then in the society that would result, there would be no it would be social strata. It would be like a building without a ceiling, a floor that separates one floor from another. But all societies are stratified. This means that a kind of “sieve” functions inside them, sifting through individuals, allowing some to rise to the top, leaving others in the lower layers, vice versa.
The movement of people in the hierarchy of society is carried out according to different channels. The most important of these are the following social institutions: the army, the church, education, political, economic and professional organizations. Each of them had a different meaning in different societies and in different periods of history. For example, in Ancient Rome the army provided great opportunities to achieve a high social position. Of the 92 Roman emperors, 36 achieved social heights (starting from the lowest strata) through military service; of the 65 Byzantine emperors, 12. The church also moved large numbers of common people to the top of the social ladder. Of the 144 popes, 28 were of low birth, 27 were from the middle classes (not to mention cardinals, bishops, abbots). At the same time, the church overthrew a large number of kings, dukes, princes.
The role of the "sieve" is performed not only social institutions, regulating vertical movements, as well as the subculture, the way of life of each layer, allowing each nominee to be tested “for strength”, compliance with the norms, principles of the stratum to which he moves. P. Sorokin points out that the education system provides not only the socialization of the individual, its training, but also acts as a kind of social elevator that allows the most capable and gifted to rise to the highest "floors" of the social hierarchy. Political parties and organizations form the political elite, the institution of property and inheritance strengthens the class of owners, the institution of marriage makes it possible to move even in the absence of outstanding intellectual abilities.
However, the use of the driving force of any social institution to rise to the top is not always sufficient. In order to gain a foothold in a new stratum, it is necessary to accept its way of life, organically fit into its socio-cultural environment, shape your behavior in accordance with accepted norms and rules - this process is rather painful, as a person is often forced to give up old habits, reconsider his value system. Adaptation to a new socio-cultural environment requires high psychological stress, which is fraught with nervous breakdowns, the development of an inferiority complex, etc. A person may turn out to be an outcast in the social stratum where he aspired or in which he ended up by the will of fate, if we are talking about downward movement.
If social institutions, according to the figurative expression of P. Sorokin, can be considered as “ social elevators”, then the sociocultural shell that envelops each stratum plays the role of a filter that exercises a kind of selective control. The filter may not let in an individual striving upward, and then, having escaped from the bottom, he will be doomed to be a stranger in the stratum. Having risen to a higher level, he, as it were, remains behind the door leading to the stratum itself.
A similar picture can develop when moving down. Having lost the right, secured, for example, by capital, to be in the upper strata, the individual descends to a lower level, but is unable to “open the door” to a new sociocultural world for him. Being unable to adapt to a subculture alien to him, he becomes a marginal person, experiencing serious psychological stress.
In society, there is a constant movement of individuals and social groups. During a period of qualitative renewal of society, a radical change in socio-economic and political relations, social movements are especially intense. Wars, revolutions, global reforms reshaped the social structure of society: the ruling social strata are being replaced, new social groups appear that differ from others in their place in the system of socio-economic relations: entrepreneurs, bankers, tenants, farmers.
From the above, we can distinguish such types of mobility as:
Vertical mobility implies a movement from one stratum (estate, class, caste) to another. Depending on the direction, vertical mobility can be upward or downward.
Horizontal mobility - movement within the same social level. For example: moving from a Catholic to an Orthodox religious group, changing one citizenship to another, moving from one family (parental) to another (own, or as a result of a divorce, the creation of a new family). Such movements occur without a significant change in social position. But there may be exceptions.
Geographic mobility a kind of horizontal mobility. It involves moving from one place to another while maintaining the same status. For example, international tourism. If social status changes when you change your place of residence, then mobility turns into migration. Example: if a villager came to the city to visit relatives, then this is geographic mobility. If you come to the city for permanent residence, find a job, change your profession, then this is migration.
individual mobility. In a steadily developing society, vertical movements are not of a group, but of an individual nature, i.e. it is not economic, political and professional groups that rise and fall along the steps of the social hierarchy, but their individual representatives. This does not mean that these movements cannot be massive - on the contrary, in modern society the watershed between the strata is overcome relatively easily by many. The fact is that an individual, in case of success, will change, as a rule, not only his position in the vertical hierarchy, but also his social and professional group.
group mobility .Movement happens collectively. Group mobility introduces major changes in the stratification structure, often affects the ratio of the main social strata and, as a rule, is associated with the emergence of new groups whose status no longer corresponds to the existing hierarchy system. By the middle of the twentieth century. such a group, for example, became managers, managers of large enterprises.
Vertical group movements are especially intense during times of economic restructuring. The emergence of new prestigious, highly paid professional groups promotes massive movement up the hierarchical ladder. The fall in the social status of the profession, the disappearance of some professions provoke not only a downward movement, but also the emergence of marginal strata that unite people who are losing their usual position in society, losing the achieved level of consumption. There is an erosion of socio-cultural values and norms that previously united people and predetermined their stable place in the social hierarchy.
Sorokin identified several main causes of group mobility: social revolutions, civil wars, change of political regimes as a result of revolutions, military coups, reforms, replacement of the old constitution with a new one, peasant uprisings, interstate wars, internecine struggle of aristocratic families.
Economic crises, accompanied by a decline in the material well-being of the broad masses, an increase in unemployment, a sharp increase in the income gap, become the root cause of the numerical growth of the most disadvantaged part of the population, which always forms the base of the pyramid of the social hierarchy. Under such conditions, the downward movement covers not only individuals, but entire groups, and can be temporary or acquire a sustainable character. In the first case, the social group returns to its usual place as it overcomes economic difficulties; in the second case, the group changes its social status and enters a difficult period of adaptation to a new place in the hierarchical pyramid.
So, group movements along the vertical are connected, firstly, with deep, serious changes in the socio-economic structure of society, causing the emergence of new classes, social groups; secondly, with a change in ideological guidelines, value systems, political priorities - in this case, there is an upward movement of those political forces that were able to catch changes in the mindset, orientations and ideals of the population, there is a painful but inevitable change in the political elite; thirdly, with the imbalance of the mechanisms that ensure the reproduction of the stratification structure of society. The mechanisms of institutionalization and legitimation cease to function in full due to the radical changes taking place in society, the growth of conflict and social uncertainty.
Social mobility processes are important performance indicators different types public devices. Societies in which there are conditions for vertical mobility (transition from lower to higher strata, groups, classes), where there are ample opportunities for territorial, including across the borders of the country, mobility, are called open. Types of societies in which such movements are difficult or practically impossible are called closed. They are characterized by caste, clan, hyperpoliticization. Open paths for vertical mobility are an important condition for the development of modern society. Otherwise, prerequisites for social tension and conflicts arise.
Intergenerational mobility . Assumes that children achieve a higher social position or fall to a lower level than their parents. For example, the son of a worker becomes an engineer.
Intragenerational mobility . It assumes that the same individual changes social positions several times throughout his life. This is called a social career. For example, a turner becomes an engineer, then a shop manager, a plant director, and a minister of the machine-building industry. Moving from the sphere of physical labor to the sphere of mental.
On other grounds, mobility may be classified into spontaneous or organized.
Examples of spontaneous mobility can be movements for the purpose of earning income from residents of the near abroad to large cities of neighboring states.
Organized mobility - the movement of a person or group vertically or horizontally is controlled by the state.
Organized mobility can be carried out: a) with the consent of the people themselves; b) without consent (involuntary) mobility. For example, deportation, repatriation, dispossession, repression, etc.
It should be distinguished from organized mobility structural mobility. It is caused by changes in the structure of the national economy and occurs against the will and consciousness of individual individuals. The disappearance or reduction of industries or professions leads to the displacement of large masses of people.
The degree of mobility in a society is determined by two factors: the range of mobility in a society and the conditions that allow people to move.
The range of mobility depends on how many different statuses exist in it. The more statuses, the more opportunity a person has to move from one status to another.
The industrial society has expanded the range of mobility. It is characterized by a much greater number of different statuses. The first decisive factor in social mobility is the level of economic development. During periods of economic depression, the number of high-status positions decreases, while low-status positions expand, so downward mobility dominates. It intensifies in those periods when people lose their jobs and at the same time new layers enter the labor market. On the contrary, during periods of active economic development, many new high-status positions appear. The increased demand for workers to occupy them is the main cause of upward mobility.
Thus, social mobility determines the dynamics of the development of the social structure of society, contributes to the creation of a balanced hierarchical pyramid.
Literature
1. Wojciech Zaborowski Evolution of social structure: a generational perspective // Sociology: theory, methods, marketing. - 2005. - No. 1. - P.8-35.
2. Volkov Yu.G. Sociology. / Under the general editorship. V.I. Dobrenkov. R-n-D: "Phoenix", 2005.
3. Giddens E. Social stratification // Socis. - 1992. - No. 9. – pp. 117 – 127.
4. Gidens E. Sociology. / Per. from English V. Shovkun, A. Oliynik. Kiev: Foundations, 1999.
5. Dobrenkov V.I., Kravchenko A.I. Sociology: Textbook. - M.: INFRA - M, 2005.
6. Kravchenko A.I. General sociology. - M., 2001.
7. Lukashevich M.P., Tulenkov M.V. Sociology. Kiyik: Caravela, 2005.
8. General sociology: Tutorial/ Under the general editorship. A.G. Efendiev. - M., 2002. - 654 p.
9. Pavlichenko P.P., Litvinenko D.A. Sociology. Kiev: Libra, 2002.
10. Radugin A.A. Radugin K.A. Sociology. Lecture course. - M., 2001.
11. Sorokin.P. Human. Civilization. Society. - M., 1992.
12. Sociology: A handbook for students of the highest initial pledges / As ed. V.G.Gorodyanenko - K., 2002. - 560 p.
13. Yakuba E.A. Sociology. Textbook A guide for students, Kharkov, 1996. - 192 pages.
14. Kharcheva V. Fundamentals of sociology. - M: Logos, 2001. - 302 pages
15. See Questions of Philosophy. - 2005. - No. 5
Society is developing at a fast pace these days. This leads to the emergence of new positions, a significant increase in the number of social movements, their speed and frequency.
What
Sorokin Pitirim was the first to study such a concept as social mobility. Today, many researchers continue the work he started, since its relevance is very high.
social mobility expressed in the fact that the position of a particular person in the hierarchy of groups, in relation to the means of production, in the division of labor and in general in the system of production relations is significantly transformed. This change is associated with the loss or acquisition of property, the transition to new position education, mastery of a profession, marriage, etc.
People are in constant motion, and society is constantly evolving. This means the variability of its structure. The totality of all social movements, that is, changes in an individual or groups, is included in the concept of social mobility.
Examples in history
Since ancient times, this topic has been relevant and aroused interest. For example, the unexpected fall of a person or his rise is a favorite plot of many folk tales: a wise and cunning beggar becomes a rich man; the industrious Cinderella finds a rich prince and marries him, thereby increasing her prestige and status; the poor prince suddenly becomes king.
However, the movement of history is determined mainly not by individuals, not by their social mobility. Social groups - that's what is more important to her. The landed aristocracy, for example, was replaced at a certain stage by the financial bourgeoisie; people with low-skilled professions are being squeezed out of modern production by "white-collar workers" - programmers, engineers, operators. Revolutions and wars were redrawn to the top of the pyramid, raising some and lowering others. Such changes in Russian society took place, for example, in 1917, after the October Revolution.
Let us consider various grounds on which social mobility can be divided, and its corresponding types.
1. Social mobility intergenerational and intragenerational
Any movement of a person between or layers means his mobility down or up within the social structure. Note that this may concern both one generation and two or three. The change in the position of children in comparison with the positions of their parents is evidence of their mobility. On the contrary, social stability takes place when a certain position of generations is preserved.
Social mobility can be intergenerational (intergenerational) and intragenerational (intragenerational). In addition, there are 2 main types - horizontal and vertical. In turn, they break up into subtypes and subspecies, closely related to each other.
Intergenerational social mobility means an increase or, on the contrary, a decrease in the status in society of representatives of subsequent generations in relation to the status of the current one. That is, children reach a higher or lower position in society than their parents. For example, if a miner's son becomes an engineer, one can speak of intergenerational upward mobility. A downward trend is observed if the son of a professor works as a plumber.
Intragenerational mobility is a situation in which the same person, beyond comparison with his parents, changes his position in society several times throughout his life. This process is otherwise referred to as a social career. A turner, for example, can become an engineer, then a shop manager, then he can be promoted to a factory director, after which he can take the post of minister of the engineering industry.
2. Vertical and horizontal
Vertical mobility is the movement of an individual from one stratum (or caste, class, estate) to another.
Allocate, depending on what direction this movement has, upward mobility (upward movement, social ascent) and downward mobility (downward movement, social descent). For example, a promotion is an example of an ascending position, and a demolition or dismissal is an example of a descending one.
The concept of horizontal social mobility means that an individual moves from one social group to another, which is at the same level. Examples include moving from a Catholic to an Orthodox religious group, changing citizenship, moving from a family of origin to one's own, from one profession to another.
Geographic mobility
Geographic social mobility is a kind of horizontal. It does not mean a change in group or status, but a move to another place while maintaining the same social status. An example is interregional and international tourism, moving and back. Geographical social mobility in modern society is also a transition from one company to another while maintaining status (for example, an accountant).
Migration
We have not yet considered all the concepts related to the topic of interest to us. The theory of social mobility also highlights migration. We speak of it when a change of status is added to a change of place. For example, if a villager comes to the city to visit his relatives, then there is geographic mobility. However, if he moved here for permanent residence, started working in the city, then this is migration.
Factors affecting horizontal and vertical mobility
Note that the nature of the horizontal and vertical social mobility of people is influenced by age, gender, mortality and birth rates, and population density. Men, and also young people in general, are more mobile than the elderly and women. In overpopulated states, emigration is higher than immigration. In places with high level birth rate a younger population and therefore more mobile. For young people, professional mobility is more characteristic, for the elderly - political, for adults - economic.
The birth rate is distributed unevenly across classes. As a rule, the lower classes have more children, while the upper classes have fewer. The higher a person climbs the social ladder, the fewer children are born to him. Even in the event that each son of a rich man takes the place of his father, in the social pyramid, on its upper steps, voids still form. They are filled with people from the lower classes.
3. Social mobility group and individual
There are also group and individual mobility. Individual - is the movement of a particular individual up, down or horizontally on the social ladder, regardless of other people. Group mobility - movement up, down or horizontally along the social ladder of a certain group of people. For example, the old class after the revolution is forced to give way to the new dominant positions.
Group and individual mobility are connected in a certain way with the achieved and ascribed statuses. At the same time, the achieved status corresponds to the individual to a greater extent, and the status assigned to the group corresponds.
Organized and structured
These are the basic concepts of the topic of interest to us. Considering the types of social mobility, sometimes organized mobility is also singled out, when the movement of an individual or groups down, up or horizontally is controlled by the state, both with the consent of the people, and without it. Organized voluntary mobility includes socialist organizational recruitment, calls for construction projects, etc. To involuntary - dispossession and resettlement of small peoples during the period of Stalinism.
Organized mobility should be distinguished from structural mobility, caused by changes in the very structure of the economy. It occurs outside of consciousness and will individual people. For example, the social mobility of a society is great when professions or industries disappear. In this case, large masses of people move, and not just individual individuals.
For clarity, let us consider the conditions for raising the status of a person in two subspaces - professional and political. Any ascent of a civil servant up the career ladder is reflected as a change in rank in the state hierarchy. You can also increase political weight by increasing the rank in the party hierarchy. If the official belongs to the activists or functionals of the party that became ruling after the parliamentary elections, then he is much more likely to take a leading position in the municipal or state government. And, of course, the professional status of an individual will increase after he receives a diploma of higher education.
Mobility intensity
The theory of social mobility introduces such a concept as the intensity of mobility. This is the number of individuals who change their social positions in a horizontal or vertical direction over a certain period of time. The number of such individuals in is the absolute intensity of mobility, while their share in the total number of this community is relative. For example, if we count the number of people under 30 who are divorced, then there is an absolute intensity of mobility (horizontal) in this age category. However, if we consider the ratio of the number of divorced people under the age of 30 to the number of all individuals, this will already be relative mobility in the horizontal direction.
The study of social mobility was started by P. Sorokin, who published the book “Social Mobility, Its Forms and Fluctuation” in 1927.
He wrote: “Social mobility is understood as any transition of an individual or social object(values) i.e. everything that is created or modified by human activity, from one social position to another. There are two main types of social mobility: horizontal and vertical.
Horizontal social mobility
Horizontal social mobility, or displacement, refers to the transition of an individual or social object from one social group to another, located at the same level. The transfer of an individual from a Baptist to a Methodist religious group, from one nationality to another, from one family (both husband and wife) to another in divorce or remarriage, from one factory to another, while maintaining his professional status - these are all examples horizontal social mobility. They are also the movement of social objects (radio, car, fashion, ideas of communism, Darwin's theory) within one social layer, like moving from Iowa to California or from some place to any other. In all these cases, "movement" can occur without any noticeable changes in the social position of the individual or social object in the vertical direction.
Vertical social mobility
Under vertical social mobility refers to those relations that arise when an individual or a social object moves from one social stratum to another. Depending on the directions of movement, there are two types of vertical mobility: upward and downward, i.e. social ascent and social descent. According to the nature of stratification, there are downward and upward flows of economic, political and occupational mobility, not to mention other less important types. Updrafts exist in two main forms: the penetration of an individual from a lower stratum into an existing higher stratum; the creation by such individuals of a new group and the penetration of the whole group into a higher stratum to the level with the already existing groups of this stratum. Accordingly, the downward currents also have two forms: the first consists in the fall of the individual from the higher initial group to which he previously belonged; another form is manifested in the degradation of the social group as a whole, in the lowering of its rank against the background of other groups, or in the destruction of its social unity. In the first case, the fall reminds us of a person who has fallen from the ship, in the second, the ship itself is submerged with all the passengers on board, or the ship crashes when it shatters.
Social mobility can be of two types: mobility as a voluntary movement or circulation of individuals within the social hierarchy; and mobility dictated by structural changes (eg industrialization and demographic factors). With urbanization and industrialization, there is a quantitative growth of professions and corresponding changes in the requirements for qualifications and vocational training. As a consequence of industrialization, there is a relative increase in the labor force, employment in the category of "white collars", a decrease in the absolute number of agricultural workers. The degree of industrialization actually correlates with the level of mobility, as it leads to an increase in the number of high-status occupations and to a fall in employment in lower-ranking occupational categories.
It should be noted that many comparative studies have shown: under the influence of forces changes in stratification systems. First of all, social differentiation is increasing. Advanced technology gives impetus to the emergence of a large number of new professions. Industrialization brings professionalism, training and rewards into greater alignment. In other words, individuals and groups are characterized by a tendency towards relatively stable positions in a ranked stratification hierarchy. The result is increased social mobility. The level of mobility increases mainly due to the quantitative growth of professions in the middle of the stratification hierarchy, i.e. due to forced mobility, although voluntary mobility is also activated, since the orientation towards achievement acquires great weight.
Equally, if not to a greater extent, the level and nature of mobility is influenced by the system of social organization. Scholars have long drawn attention to the qualitative differences in this respect between open and closed societies. AT open society there are no formal mobility restrictions and almost no abnormal ones.
A closed society, with a rigid structure preventing the increase in mobility, thereby resists instability.
It would be more correct to call social mobility the reverse side of the same problem of inequality, because, as M. Beutl noted, “social inequality increases and legitimizes in the process of social mobility, the function of which is to divert to safe channels and contain discontent.
In a closed society, upward mobility is limited not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively, so individuals who have reached the top, but do not receive the share of social benefits that they expected, begin to consider the existing order as an obstacle to achieving their legitimate goals and strive for radical changes. Among those whose mobility is directed downwards, in a closed society there often turn out to be those who, by education and abilities, are more prepared for leadership than the bulk of the population - it is from them that the leaders of the revolutionary movement are formed at a time when the contradictions of society lead to conflict in it. classes.
In an open society where there are few barriers to upward movement, those who rise tend to diverge from the political orientation of the class into which they have passed. The behavior of those who lower their position looks similar. Thus, those who rise to the top stratum are less conservative than the permanent members of the top stratum. On the other hand, the "thrown down" are more left than the stable members of the lower stratum. Therefore, the movement as a whole contributes to the stability and at the same time the dynamism of an open society.
People are in constant motion, and society is in development. The totality of social movements of people in society, i.e. changes in their status, is called social mobility. This topic has interested humanity for a long time. The unexpected rise of a person or his sudden fall is a favorite plot of folk tales: a cunning beggar suddenly becomes rich, a poor prince becomes a king, and the industrious Cinderella marries a prince, thereby increasing her status and prestige.
However, human history is made up not so much of individual destinies as of the movement of large social groups. The landed aristocracy is being replaced by the financial bourgeoisie, low-skilled professions are being squeezed out of modern production by representatives of the so-called "white collars" - engineers, programmers, operators of robotic complexes. Wars and revolutions reshaped the social structure of society, raising some to the top of the pyramid and lowering others. Similar changes took place in Russian society after the October Revolution of 1917. They are still taking place today, when the business elite is replacing the party elite.
Between ascent and descent there is a certain asymmetry: everyone wants to go up and no one wants to go down the social ladder. Usually, ascent - the phenomenon is voluntary, descent - forced.
Studies show that those with higher status prefer high positions for themselves and their children, but those with lower status want the same for themselves and their children. And so it turns out in human society: everyone is striving upward and no one is downward.
In this chapter, we will look at essence, causes, typology, mechanisms, channels and factors affecting social mobility.
Exist two main types social mobility - intergenerational and intragenerational, and two main types - vertical and horizontal. They, in turn, break down into subspecies and subtypes, which are closely related to each other.
Intergenerational mobility assumes that children achieve a higher social position or fall to a lower level than their parents. Example: A miner's son becomes an engineer.
Intragenerational mobility takes place where the same individual, beyond comparison with the father, changes social positions several times throughout his life. Otherwise it is called social career. Example: a turner becomes an engineer, and then a shop manager, plant director, minister of the engineering industry.
The first type of mobility refers to long-term, and the second - to short-term processes. In the first case, sociologists are more interested in interclass mobility, and in the second - the movement from the sphere of physical labor to the sphere of mental labor.
Vertical mobility implies a movement from one stratum (estate, class, caste) to another. Depending on the direction of movement, there are upward mobility (social rise, upward movement) and downward mobility (social descent, downward movement). Promotion is an example of upward mobility, dismissal, demolition is an example of downward mobility.
Horizontal mobility implies the transition of an individual from one social group to another, located at the same level. An example is the movement from an Orthodox to a Catholic religious group, from one citizenship to another, from one family (parental) to another (one's own, newly formed), from one profession to another. Such movements occur without a noticeable change in social position in the vertical direction.
A form of horizontal mobility is geographical mobility . It does not imply a change in status or group, but a movement from one place to another while maintaining the same status. An example is international and interregional tourism, moving from a city to a village and back, moving from one enterprise to another.
If a change of status is added to a change of place, then geographic mobility becomes migration. If a villager comes to the city to visit relatives, then this is geographic mobility. If he moved to the city for permanent residence and found a job here, then this is migration. He changed his profession.
Vertical and horizontal mobility are influenced by gender, age, birth rate, death rate, population density. In general, young people and men are more mobile than older people and women. Overpopulated countries are more likely to experience the effects of emigration than immigration. Where the birth rate is high, the population is younger and therefore more mobile, and vice versa.
Professional mobility is typical for the young, economic mobility for adults, and political mobility for the elderly. The birth rate is unevenly distributed across classes. The lower classes tend to have more children, while the higher classes tend to have fewer. There is a pattern: the higher a person climbs the social ladder, the fewer children he has. Even if every son of a rich man follows in the footsteps of his father, voids are still formed on the upper steps of the social pyramid, which are filled by people from the lower classes. In no class do people plan for the exact number of children needed to replace parents. The number of vacancies and the number of applicants for the occupation of certain social positions in different classes is different.
Professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc.) and skilled employees do not have enough children to fill their jobs in the next generation. By contrast, farmers and agricultural workers, in the US, have 50% more children than they need to be self-sustaining. It is not difficult to calculate in which direction social mobility should proceed in modern society.
High and low birth rates in different classes have the same effect on vertical mobility as population density in different countries has on horizontal mobility. Strata, like countries, can be overpopulated or underpopulated.
It is possible to propose a classification of social mobility according to other criteria. So, for example, they distinguish:
· individual mobility, when moving down, up or horizontally occurs in each person independently of others, and
· group mobility, when movements take place collectively, for example, after a social revolution, the old class cedes its dominant positions to the new class.
Individual mobility and group mobility are connected in a certain way with assigned and achieved status. Individual mobility corresponds more to the status achieved, and group mobility to the assigned status.
Individual mobility occurs where and when the social significance of an entire class, estate, caste, rank, or category rises or falls. The October Revolution led to the rise of the Bolsheviks, who previously did not have a recognized high position. Brahmins became the highest caste as a result of a long and stubborn struggle, and earlier they were on an equal footing with the kshatriyas. AT Ancient Greece after the adoption of the constitution, most people were freed from slavery and climbed the social ladder, and many of their former masters went down.
The transition from a hereditary aristocracy to a plutocracy (an aristocracy based on the principles of wealth) had the same consequences. In 212 AD e. almost the entire population of the Roman Empire received the status of Roman citizens. Thanks to this, huge masses of people who were previously considered to be deprived of their rights have raised their social status. The invasion of the barbarians (Huns, Lobards, Goths) disrupted the social stratification of the Roman Empire: one by one, the old aristocratic families disappeared, and they were replaced by new ones. Foreigners founded new dynasties and new nobility.
Mobile individuals begin socialization in one class and end in another. They are literally torn between dissimilar cultures and lifestyles. They do not know how to behave, dress, talk in terms of the standards of another class. Often adaptation to new conditions remains very superficial. A typical example is Moliere's tradesman in the nobility.
These are the main types, types and forms (there are no significant differences between these terms) of social mobility. In addition to them, organized mobility is sometimes singled out, when the movement of a person or entire groups up, down or horizontally is controlled by the state a) with the consent of the people themselves, b) without their consent. Voluntary organized mobility should include the so-called socialist organization set, public appeals for Komsomol construction projects, etc. Involuntary organized mobility includes repatriation (resettlement) of small peoples and dispossession during the years of Stalinism.
It is necessary to distinguish from organized mobility structural mobility. It is caused by changes in the structure of the national economy and occurs against the will and consciousness of individual individuals. For example, the disappearance or reduction of industries or professions leads to the displacement of large masses of people. In the 1950s and 1970s, small villages were reduced and enlarged in the USSR.
