High social mobility is characteristic of society. Types of social mobility: vertical, horizontal, individual

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 by natural population growth - there is a vertical migration of individual 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.

For the first time, the general principles of 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 through 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 by social institutions that regulate vertical movements, but also by the subculture, the way of life of each layer, which makes it possible to check each nominee “for strength”, compliance with the norms and 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, in the figurative expression of P. Sorokin, can be considered as "social elevators", then the socio-cultural 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.

Group movement along the vertical is especially intense in 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.

The processes of social mobility are important indicators of the effectiveness of various types of social arrangements. 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: Textbook / Ed. 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

scientific definition

social mobility- change by an individual or group of the place occupied in the social structure (social position), moving from one social stratum (class, group) to another (vertical mobility) or within the same social stratum (horizontal mobility). Sharply limited in a caste and estate society, social mobility increases significantly in an industrial society.

Horizontal mobility

Horizontal mobility- the transition of an individual from one social group to another, located on the same level (example: moving from an Orthodox to a Catholic religious group, from one citizenship to another). Distinguish between individual mobility - the movement of one person independently of others, and group mobility - the movement occurs collectively. In addition, geographical mobility is distinguished - moving from one place to another while maintaining the same status (example: international and interregional tourism, moving from city to village and back). As a kind of geographical mobility, the concept of migration is distinguished - moving from one place to another with a change in status (example: a person moved to a city for a permanent place of residence and changed his profession). And it is similar to castes.

Vertical mobility

Vertical mobility- moving a person up or down the corporate ladder.

• Upward mobility- social uplift, upward movement (For example: promotion).
• Downward mobility- social descent, downward movement (For example: demotion).

social lift

social lift- a concept similar to vertical mobility, but more often used in the modern context of discussing the theory of elites as one of the means of rotation of the ruling elite.

Generational mobility

Intergenerational mobility - a comparative change in social status among different generations (example: the son of a worker becomes president).

Intragenerational mobility (social career) - a change in status within one generation (example: a turner becomes an engineer, then a shop manager, then a factory director). Vertical and horizontal mobility are influenced by gender, age, birth rate, death rate, population density. In general, men and young people are more mobile than women and the elderly. Overpopulated countries are more likely to experience the consequences of emigration (relocation from one country to another for economic, political, personal reasons) than immigration (moving to a region for permanent or temporary residence of citizens from another region). Where the birth rate is high, the population is younger and therefore more mobile, and vice versa.

Literature

• social mobility- article from the Newest Philosophical Dictionary
• Sorokin R. A. Social and cultural mobility. - N. Y. - L., 1927.
• Glass D.V. Social mobility in Britain. - L., 1967.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

• Pletink, Joseph
• Amsterdam (album)

See what "Social mobility" is in other dictionaries:

social mobility- (social mobility) Movement from one class (class) or, more often, from a group with a certain status to another class, to another group. Social mobility both between generations and within the professional activities of individuals is … Political science. Dictionary.

SOCIAL MOBILITY- change by an individual or group of a social position, a place occupied in the social structure. S. m. is connected both with the operation of the laws of societies. development, class struggle, causing the growth of some classes and groups and a decrease ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

SOCIAL MOBILITY- SOCIAL mobility, change by an individual or group of the place occupied in the social structure, movement from one social stratum (class, group) to another (vertical mobility) or within the same social stratum ... ... Modern Encyclopedia

SOCIAL MOBILITY- change by an individual or group of the place occupied in the social structure, moving from one social stratum (class, group) to another (vertical mobility) or within the same social stratum (horizontal mobility). ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

social mobility- SOCIAL MOBILITY, change by an individual or group of the place occupied in the social structure, movement from one social stratum (class, group) to another (vertical mobility) or within the same social stratum ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

SOCIAL MOBILITY- a concept by which social movements of people are indicated in the direction of social positions, characterized by a higher (social ascent) or lower (social degradation) level of income, prestige and degree ... ... The latest philosophical dictionary

SOCIAL MOBILITY- see SOCIAL MOBILITY. Antinazi. Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2009 ... Encyclopedia of Sociology

SOCIAL MOBILITY- SOCIAL MOBILITY, a term used (along with the concepts of social displacement and social mobility) in sociology, demography and economics. sciences to denote the transitions of individuals from one class, social group and stratum to another, ... ... Demographic Encyclopedic Dictionary

SOCIAL MOBILITY- (vertical mobility) See: labor overflow (mobility of labor). Business. Dictionary. Moscow: INFRA M, Ves Mir Publishing House. Graham Bets, Barry Brindley, S. Williams et al. Osadchaya I.M.. 1998 ... Glossary of business terms

social mobility- a personal quality acquired in the course of educational activities and expressed in the ability to quickly master new realities in various spheres of life, to find adequate ways to resolve unforeseen problems and fulfill ... ... Official terminology

Books

• Sport and social mobility. Crossing borders, Spaay Ramon. Great athletes, Olympic champions, famous football players, hockey players or racers are known all over the world. Undoubtedly, the sport that became their profession made them famous and rich. A…

Migration mobility of the population has a positive and negative impact on society: on the economy, politics, and spiritual life. The fate of Russia was greatly influenced by the Mongol invasion. In particular, we borrowed an autocratic political structure from the Horde. As a result of the war of 1812-1814, the Russian nobility became infected with the ideas of the French Revolution, which resulted in a military mutiny in December 1825. The Soviet soldiers who liberated Europe from Nazism discovered that people did not live better under socialism.

The mechanisms of social mobility are different in different countries.

IN Soviet (socialist) society did not have economic classes in the exact sense of the word. Under the conditions of state ownership of the means of production, the main feature of an economic class, the attitude to property, is absent. In Soviet society, the following social classes existed, depending on their location in the power hierarchy:

• nomenklatura (ruling);
• bureaucracy (executive);
• proletariat (workers) - workers, employees, collective farmers, including actual slaves in the Gulag.

In 1989, T. Zaslavskaya and R. Ryvka singled out the following Soviet society:

• imperious, differing in character (party, state, economic) authorities;
• related to the spheres and branches of the national economy (military, municipal, etc.);
• economic managers, differing in the rank of power (heads of associations, enterprises, divisions);
• intelligentsia, differing in its profile (engineering, creative, etc.);
• declassed.

The mechanism of social mobility in the Soviet (political) society was state-distributive in nature and included the following methods. Firstly, the nomenklatura mechanism: a significant part of the leading workers were appointed by party committees of the appropriate level and submitted to them. So, workers of the district level were appointed and subordinated to the district committee of the Communist Party. Secondly, repressions against "enemies of the people" (enemies of the Soviet society) and entire peoples, as a result of which there was a rapid displacement of people. Stalin was well aware of the role of repression as a mechanism of social mobility for "withdrawal from circulation" of "spent personnel". Thirdly, the "buildings of communism", where the masses of people moved: virgin lands, BAM and others. During the years of Brezhnev's "stagnation", social mobility slowed down as a result of the orientation towards the stabilization of personnel and the easing of repressions (started under Khrushchev). Social mobility remained high in the scientific and educational sphere, where new opportunities arose as a result of the scientific and technological revolution (“scientific and technological revolution”).

Western (capitalist and social democratic) societies have the following socio-professional structure at the industrial stage of development:

• the highest class of professional managers (managers);
• mid-level technicians;
• commercial grade;
• petty bourgeoisie;
• technicians and workers with managerial functions;
• skilled workers;
• unskilled workers;
• unemployed.

Social mobility in Western societies is characterized by considerable speed and intensity in the economic, professional and political spheres. The main mechanism of social mobility is competition in all spheres of society, focused on results - on efficiency. In the economic sphere, there are rapid and intense movements vertically and horizontally, due to the ruin and unemployment of some and the success and high earnings of others. In the political sphere, the mechanism of social mobility is elections, as a result of which there is a movement of persons and political parties. Territorial mobility is associated with the movement of masses of the population in search of work. Due to the high standard of living in Western countries, many people from other countries tend to move there to live and work. As a result, especially in the United States, a country of migrants, whole ethnic regions are emerging.

In post-Soviet Russia the following strata can be distinguished depending on power, wealth, education, nature of work:

• ruling group (politicians and financiers);
• "new Russians" (new Russian bourgeoisie);
• petty bourgeoisie ("shuttle traders", farmers, entrepreneurs);
• production workers;
• knowledge workers;
• peasants, etc.

Thus, we have approached the western.

Post-Soviet Russia has a significant aggregate mobility index, mostly downward and horizontal. This applies to the army, school, property, family, church, etc. Many people have become impoverished, with the result that there is a danger of a social explosion. Large groups of people from the CIS countries, where the standard of living is lower than in Russia, move to us to work and live. This creates many inter-ethnic and social problems.

Globalization, as a distinctive feature of the modern world, is characterized by a very significant migration of the population from undeveloped countries to developed ones. Millions of people are fleeing countries with massive unemployment for unskilled jobs and higher living standards. In many countries of the world, including Russia, construction workers in large numbers are newcomers.

“Modern immigration,” writes Christopher Coker, “is a phenomenon that threatens to split Western society rather than unite it, as happened in the 1930s.<...>Both the United States and Europe are already multi-ethnic and multi-racial societies. The beginning of the 21st century will show whether they will accept the diversity of cultures as the basis of their identity.” Concern in this regard is caused by neo-Nazi parties, which were able to attract about 10 percent of the vote in France, Austria and other countries. This remark applies to Russia as well.

The essence of social mobility

Social mobility as a factor in the dynamization of stratification processes

The status-layer hierarchy of different societies and different eras has some common characteristics. Thus, in any society, people of intellectual labor generally occupy more privileged positions than people of physical labor; highly skilled workers acquire higher status positions than unskilled ones. In every society there are also sections of the poor and the rich. At the same time, the higher the social class is located in the social hierarchy, the more barriers there are for those who would like to penetrate it from the outside. In the historical practice of many countries, it was not uncommon for there to be social groups with little permeability, the entire way of life and activity of which, as it were, closed in on itself, being fenced off by social barriers from the lower strata. Nevertheless, processes of social mobility have always developed in society, providing a person with the opportunity to change his status position for the better.

P. Sorokin defines social mobility as any transition of an individual or a social object (value), i.e., everything that is created or modified by human activity, from one social position to another.

It should be added to the above definition that in some cases a person makes this transition without excessive efforts (changes place of residence or work), in others the transition occurs due to natural causes arising from the life cycles of a person (transition from one age group to another). But in the vast majority of life situations, a person has to make a lot of conscious efforts to change his social status, especially when it comes to the desire to improve it. However, there are a number of human qualities that are determined biologically, which makes it impossible to change the social position (race, gender).

Processes of social mobility are formed from the purposeful activity of people to achieve life goals, and are also supported by both social self-organization (traditional prohibitions and incentives, family relations, amateur forms of life, mores), and system-institutional structures - legal regulators, the educational system, various ways to stimulate labor activity on the part of the state, the church, the professional corporate environment, etc. Taken together, these factors and prerequisites that support the processes of social mobility provide many opportunities for different groups to vary their actions in order to achieve the necessary status position. At the same time, society is objectively interested in ensuring that, on the one hand, there is no sharp confrontation of group interests, specific lines of behavior of people, and on the other hand, there is an active exchange of social energy and spiritual resources, especially in situations where the need for such activation is repeatedly increases.

In any society, there is a certain balance in the processes of social mobility, balancing the contradictory tendencies within them. Thus, various forms of social assistance are directed to representatives of the lower groups, which can alleviate their deprivation. In turn, representatives of prestigious strata (authoritative, professional, tender, etc.) strive to distinguish themselves as social entities and retain signs of their high status. In various ways, many social obstacles are erected to prevent the penetration of people from lower strata into the privileged ranks. One should also take into account the effect of objective restrictions characteristic of the integral functioning of an economic or social organism: at a certain stage of development, society needs a certain proportion of people with specific professions, large owners, top statesmen, etc. It is impossible to arbitrarily exceed a certain amount of these occupations and status positions. no matter how people try to improve the mechanisms of social mobility.

But at the same time, in the flow of social interactions there are always opposite tendencies, leading to a loosening of the existing situation or to its renewal. The specific mechanism of this loosening can be understood by the example of the problematization of the living conditions of certain groups, by the desire of people to achieve more in life than their parents. The transformation of mass value orientations, as well as the life problems that arise before many people in the process of social activity, make them look for opportunities to change their social position. Therefore, many of them seek to overcome obstacles and make the transition to a more prestigious group.

Historical practice shows that there were no societies with absolutely impenetrable partitions between social classes and strata, as well as with the complete absence of such partitions. Different societies differ only in the degree, forms, mechanisms of permeability of social barriers. One of the most stable stratification structures in the form of caste division can be found in India. However, even in antiquity, and even more so at the present time, channels and mechanisms (sometimes barely noticeable) are preserved that make the transition from one layer to another possible.

The position of some researchers, which boils down to the fact that social progress, the democratization of society, inevitably leads in our time to the removal of obstacles for people to move into more privileged groups, does not receive confirmation. Sociologists have repeatedly proved on massive material that democratic changes in this or that society do not mean an absolute decrease, but only the replacement of one type of social obstacles by others. Today, Western researchers are coming to this conclusion using the example of open societies. Thus, the American researcher L. Duberman states that in the last 100 years, "in terms of greater openness or closeness, the American class structure has remained relatively unchanged." Similar conclusions were obtained by the researcher B. Schaefer from Germany, the French sociologist D. Marceau, the British J. Goldthor and F. Beaven.

The statements of researchers about social stability and even a certain immobility of social proportions in the developed countries of the West should be understood in the sense that the hierarchical structure that has been developing in them for centuries cannot be transformed quickly and, most importantly, in a one-sided direction. Under the influence of social factors, both unfavorable (wars, revolutions) and favorable (modernization, economic recovery), this structure fluctuates first in one direction, then in the other. Thus, it is modified, but on the whole retaining the same range of hierarchy, the extent of social distances between layers. It can be said that at different stages of development of a particular society, in different historical situations, the processes of social mobility can differ markedly from each other, but their variability is carried out around certain limits and principles, which are determined, on the one hand, by historical tradition, and on the other, by social needs in a given period of time. If we compare the processes of social mobility in different countries, and especially in societies of different types of development and unequal civilizational affiliation, then we can see their noticeable difference from each other.

Varieties of social mobility

Today, as before, the initial stage of social mobility is similar for all people: at birth, a child receives the social status of his parents, the so-called ascriptive, or prescribed status. Parents, relatives and people close to the family pass on to the child those norms of behavior, ideas about what is due and prestigious that prevail in their environment. However, during the active period of life, a person is often not satisfied with the position in his layer, achieving more. In this case, researchers say that a person changes his previous status and acquires a new one. achieved status. Thus, he became involved in the processes upward mobility.

Let us single out cases where representatives of social groups have a prescribed status that cannot be changed at will alone (separation of people according to gender, race, age). For representatives of such groups, social mobility is often hampered by the social discrimination entrenched in a given society. In this situation, members of the group can achieve a change in social stereotypes in relation to themselves and through initiative actions, demand the expansion of channels for their social mobility.

At the same time, in modern society, many people carry out upward professional mobility through the choice of a particular profession, the achievement of a high level of qualification and professional education, a change of profession and leaving for a highly paid field of work or a more prestigious job, through moving to a new job in another city. or in another country. Often people change their status outside the professional sphere - in this case, upward mobility can be realized through a change in their marital status, support from relatives and friends.

Sociologists also distinguish downward social mobility. We are talking about the loss of many advantages of the previous status and the transition of a person to a social group of a lower level. People face this type of mobility, as a rule, due to unfavorable or unavoidable circumstances, for example, in conditions of an economic crisis, when they reach retirement age, as well as due to illness, disability. The situation of downward mobility is regarded by society as undesirable for a person, therefore, within the framework of the family and state institutions, many methods are being developed to smooth out its severity, reduce the scale - family support, the system of social insurance and pensions, social charity and guardianship.

In addition to the identified two types of social mobility, which are vertical(directed up or down), a number of other varieties of it are considered in science. Let's point to horizontal mobility associated with a person's change of place of work, place of residence, position, but without changing the status rank. In this case, an important form of social mobility is also carried out, which allows, for example, to solve some personal problems, expands people's social opportunities with an eye to the future, and enriches their professional experience.

The types of social mobility discussed above can exist both in the form of chaotic individual movements, and in the form of directed collective-group transformations. In other words, under some conditions individual mobility takes place, often acquiring a random or chaotic character, in others it is realized as similar collective movements. During the period of radical transformations, entire strata and social groups change their social status, demonstrating the so-called structural mobility which is prepared and takes place under the influence of many factors, spontaneously, through the transformation of the whole society. Thus, European revolutions were accompanied by the departure of the old aristocracy from the social scene, which opened up wide opportunities for the bourgeoisie, as well as the intellectual elite, to show their activity. In the conditions of evolutionary development in the 1960-1980s. in the USSR, a number of professional strata experienced a gradual status transformation. Some of them were losing their positions (teachers, engineers, scientists), while others were building them up (employees in the banking and service sectors, lawyers), which was clearly manifested in the dynamics of the professional orientations of young people in these decades. The decrease in status positions in some groups and the increase in others were indicators of structural mobility, testified to hidden shifts in the social structure, which, sooner or later, should have manifested itself in the transformation of the entire social organism.

Closely related to individual and collective-group movements are two more types of social mobility: mobility based on voluntary movements of people within groups and between groups, as well as mobility is objectively inevitable, if necessary forced caused by structural shifts in various areas of social practice - in the economy, political practice, demography.

Finally, one should stop at intragenerational(intragenerational) and intergenerational(intergenerational) mobility, which indicate a change in social status both within certain age cohorts and from parents to children. Changes of this kind are set by traditions, the historical situation that determines one or another serious shift in a given society, and the country's geopolitical position. Thus, other things being equal, intergenerational mobility in modern English society is slower than in the United States, which is explained by the unequal role of traditions in preserving the younger generation's belonging to their class, stratum. At the same time, the peculiarity of the processes of social mobility in the United States has always been determined by the large-scale flow of immigrants from the Old World and other regions of the world. In Japan, intergenerational status positions have been transforming more rapidly over the past 50 years than in the second half of the 19th century, which is associated with the country's active involvement in the modern world dynamics.

Social mobility in unequal conditions of social development

Mobility in evolutionary conditions of development

Above, attention was paid to the balance, the correspondence of various processes of social mobility to each other in the conditions of evolutionary development. In such a situation remains low scale of social mobility - it is defined through the percentage of people who have changed the status inherited from their parents. At this time, adult children for the most part do not go beyond the social position of their parents. But even in the case of leaving the status belonging to their parents, some workers remain all their lives in the social position from which they began their independent labor activity, while others move one or two steps higher. Under these conditions, it is rare for someone to be able to immediately move to several levels of career and well-being in a short period.

Currently, the processes of social mobility of modern Western society are experiencing a special state. The very social structure of a developed society is based on the strength of the middle class, while remaining relatively stable overall. However, the middle class itself, integrating 60-75% of the population, has probably reached the limits of its volume. Social vertical mobility in the countries of Western Europe over the past 30 years has been characterized by the following features. There was an equalization of the chances of vertical mobility for representatives of different groups. The children of workers, at the expense of social assistance from the state, could even overtake the children of employees in some ways. Women's mobility increased. Intellectual activity has become a common phenomenon, which has affected the decline in the status of the intellectuals themselves. The revolution in education allowed a significant number of citizens to receive training in secondary vocational and higher education, but quality education everywhere became more rare and inaccessible. As a result, in the last decade of the XX century. over 50% of people aged 30-60 had a higher education than their parents. But at the same time, their social status was lower or the same as that of their parents. The described situation in the developed countries of the West indicates a kind of stoppage of the social lift, the destruction of important steps in the mechanism of vertical mobility.

A considerable danger to the functioning of the mechanisms of social mobility and stratification in the West is also the migration of guest workers from different countries of the world, whose share among the population of individual countries is 7-13%. At the beginning of this migration (in the 70s-80s of the 20th century), it was assumed that the foreign labor force would just smooth out the disproportions in the social structure of Western European countries, replenishing the layers of low-skilled manual workers and gradually integrating into European culture. However, this did not happen. Even in the second and third generations, people from Asia, the Middle East, North Africa do not want (and in many ways cannot) turn into average citizens of Western countries due to their racial and anthropological qualities, cultural and religious orientations. In many large cities of the West, there are now quarters inhabited by representatives of non-European ethnic groups, among which the scale of unemployment is much higher, people without certain occupations, with a low level of education. In such quarters, rules of conduct and moral requirements reign, in many respects different from the culture of the dominant majority. Marginalized groups often appear here, consisting of aggressive young people who can throw out their unmotivated cruelty on residents of neighborhoods with indigenous populations. All this, of course, aggravates the costs of the mechanisms of social mobility and stratification in the developed Western countries.

Mobility in the context of industrialization

In the last 100-200 years, many societies have entered a period of more intensive development associated with the renewal of the economy and social practices. In this case, the processes of social mobility also began to change, accelerating, in turn, modernization changes. At this time, there was an intensive destruction of the former characteristics of social mobility, replacing them with new qualities. Let us first consider the transformation of the processes of social mobility, in which the tendencies of their constructive renewal come to the fore.

Renewal functions are especially pronounced at certain periods industrialization through which all the countries of the West passed in modern times. In the last hundred plus years, many non-European countries experienced the stage of industrialization, modernizing their economy, social relations, and traditional culture. In Russia, the processes of industrialization, which began in the last third of the 19th century, developed most intensively from the late 1920s to the mid-1950s. and ended in general by the 1970s. Let us characterize the most important trends in social mobility inherent in processes of this kind.

In the course of industrialization, there is mainly a forced mass migration of people from the countryside to the cities. Both in cities and in villages, commodity-industrial production is emerging, which then rapidly expands its scale, stimulating the introduction of new labor technologies. All this, in turn, leads to the emergence of new professions and specialties, differentiates the qualifications of workers, which is accompanied by an increase in the educational level of the population, an increase in people's awareness, and the expansion of their worldview horizon. The ways in which children and young people are socialized are changing. Serious transformations are taking place in family relations, everyday life, ways of rest and recovery. In a word, the whole way of life of the population is changing radically. Generations of children, and even more so of grandchildren, live in completely different conditions than their fathers and grandfathers. Thus, the scale of mobility in these conditions noticeably increases - for 50-100 years there is a constant increase in the proportion of the population that does not repeat the status of its parents, reaching at peak points of the intensity of social movements their volume equal to 60-75%.

Of course, during these years there may be recessions in production, political crises, social clashes. But if the state policy of industrialization is thought out and implemented successfully, then the development of society remains stable, and at the same time, there are diverse ways for people to climb the social ladder. Millions of people are involved in these processes, which, as a rule, cover the active period of life (it is equal to 25-30 years) of several generations. On the whole, these shifts play a constructive role in the renewal of social development, although at certain stages of industrialization, serious humanitarian costs inevitably make themselves felt. Among the latter, we will point out such phenomena as the massive weakening of the previous ties that consolidated the population, including those that supported economic, family and domestic relations, the imbalance of collective interactions between representatives of new and former professional strata, as well as an increase in the scale of marginality .

Special mention should be made of the increase in the period of industrialization of the phenomenon social marginality. Marginality can be understood in a narrow and broad sense. In a narrow sense, it is associated with the incomplete, partial, intermediate nature of the social roles of any group or individual. But in this case, the interpretation of marginality as a broad social phenomenon, into which thousands, and sometimes millions of people are drawn, is emphasized. (See Ch. 9.) Processes of industrial transformation lead to a dramatic restructuring of society that integrates—partly voluntarily, partly involuntarily—great masses of people into social mobility. For some, the new status turns out to be descending, while others acquire it in the process of moving up the status ladder.

But everywhere this movement generates structural marginality, which is associated with the mass loss of entire layers of their former status, the breaking of habitual ties, a change in the social environment, which in one way or another turns people into outcasts- persons deprived in the new position of stable value orientations, social roots, understanding of what is happening, even if they have improved their status. If a balanced social policy is carried out and a certain balance between the traditional and new strata continues to be maintained in the processes of stratification, then the scale of marginalization is not capable of seriously destabilizing society. In this case, the new stratification order is fixed faster than the old one falls apart.

It should be emphasized that the social mobility of the period of industrialization, having common features of development in different countries, still does not acquire a universal character. In each society, these processes are determined by the specific situation that develops in a particular period of development, are closely intertwined with elements of tradition. All this makes it possible to neutralize the rapid transition of huge masses of people from one social stratum to another and the acuteness of integration into modern economic dynamics.

Let us refer to the experience of Japan. In large Japanese firms in relation to permanent staff, a system of lifetime employment and the principle of seniority of promotion are applied. Lifetime employment means that the employee is employed by the firm for the entire working period of his life. In turn, the management of the company guarantees its employment during the crisis, when it dismisses that part of the staff that is not covered by this system. Thus, the employee has confidence in the future and a fairly stable financial position, including assistance from the company to solve his family problems (for example, to purchase housing, educate children). The principle of seniority of promotion is due to the fact that the company has strict principles for raising the status of an employee depending on the length of service (i.e., age), in which it is often impossible even to move from one category of workers to another. The company also has career limits, its own scale of salary increases, severance pay, paid leave, etc. These mobility mechanisms operate only in large Japanese firms. In other countries, there may be other systems for selecting and retaining good workers, aimed at mitigating social costs in the face of abrupt social transformations.

Mobility in crisis conditions of social development

Let us now consider the state of social mobility processes under conditions social destruction, social crises. The destruction of the mechanisms of layer formation and social mobility, systematically occurring in different countries, was of great interest to P. Sorokin in his time, who experienced a similar situation during the period of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War. Under these conditions, mass downward mobility of many layers takes place and a flat—almost without upper layers—stratification profile is formed. Sorokin believed that such a massive “disorder” of the mechanisms of stratification and mobility occurs spontaneously on the scale of society, as a response of the social system to the hypertrophied nature of these processes at the previous stage.

Similar situations of general destruction also occur during periods of economic depression, as a result of failure and disruption of modernization reforms, as well as in conditions of war, revolution, prolonged political, national clashes, which indicate the loss of society's mobilization and adaptive abilities to adequately respond to internal and external danger. These situations give rise to social instability, which, as a rule, is accompanied by an unfavorable transformation of the employment structure, an increase in the proportion of the unemployed, mass impoverishment of the main part of the population, and an increase in diseases and mortality. Often, internal migration of people increases, refugees and internally displaced persons appear. All this, in turn, destroys the former value-semantic orientations of people and is accompanied by the spread of social anomie.

Under such conditions, social mobility and stratification processes are extremely unstable and largely depend on a set of transient factors. So, random people or even representatives of criminal structures can achieve a high position. The scale of structural marginalization in this situation can be many times greater than those that appear in the conditions of industrialization. The stabilization of new stratification mechanisms and, in particular, the mechanisms of social mobility, is possible not earlier than a certain social stability is achieved and the new foundations on which the mechanisms of social reproduction will develop are clarified.

Social mobility is understood as any transition of an individual or social group from one social position to another. There are two main types of social mobility: horizontal and vertical. 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. That is, the movement of a certain individual from one religious group to another, from one citizenship to another, from one family (both husband and wife) to another in a divorce or remarriage, from one factory to another, while maintaining his professional status are all examples of horizontal social mobility. Vertical mobility means moving from one stratum to another. Depending on the direction of movement, one speaks of upward mobility (social ascent, upward movement) and downward mobility (social descent, downward movement). There is a certain asymmetry between ascent and descent: everyone wants to go up and no one wants to go down the social ladder. As a rule, ascent is a voluntary phenomenon, and descent is forced. Promotion is an example of upward mobility of an individual, dismissal, demotion is an example of downward mobility. Vertical mobility is a person's change during life of a high status to a low one, or vice versa. For example, the movement of a person from the status of a worker to the position of the head of an enterprise, as well as the reverse movement, is an example of vertical 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, 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. Horizontal mobility implies a change by a person during his life of one status to another, which is approximately equivalent. Geographical mobility is a variation of horizontal mobility. It does not imply a change in status or group, but a movement from one place to another while maintaining the same status. If a change of status is added to a change of place, then geographic mobility turns into 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 got a job here, then this is migration. Classification of social mobility can be carried out according to other criteria. Distinguish between individual mobility, when moving down, up or horizontally occurs in an individual independently of others, and group mobility, when movements occur collectively, for example, after a social revolution, the old ruling class cedes its positions to the new ruling class.

On other grounds, mobility may be classified, say, as spontaneous or organized. An example of spontaneous mobility is the movement of residents of the near abroad to large cities of Russia for the purpose of earning money. Organized mobility (moving a person or entire groups up, down or horizontally) is controlled by the state. An example of organized voluntary mobility in Soviet times is the movement of young people from different cities and villages to Komsomol construction sites, the development of virgin lands.

There is also such a type of social mobility as intergenerational mobility. An example is a carpenter's son who becomes president of a company. The importance of this type of mobility lies in the fact that the scale tells the extent to which in a given society, inequality passes from one generation to another. If intergenerational mobility is not great, then this means that inequality in a given society has taken root, and a person’s chances to change his fate do not depend on himself, but are predetermined by birth. In other words, the degree of mobility of society is important, which is determined by:

• range of mobility in society;
• conditions that allow people to move around.

The range of mobility that characterizes a given society 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. Industrial society has expanded the range of mobility. It is characterized by a much larger 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. There is a concept of mobility distance - the number of steps that individuals managed to climb or had to go down. The normal distance is considered to be moving one or two steps up or down. The unit of mobility distance is the movement step. To describe the step of social movements, the concept of status is used: moving from a lower to a higher status is upward mobility; moving from higher to lower status - downward mobility. Movement can be one step (status), two or more steps (statuses) up, down and horizontally. A step can be measured in 1) statuses, 2) generations. Therefore, the following types are distinguished:

• intergenerational mobility,
• intergenerational mobility,
• inter-class mobility
• intra-class mobility.

The concept of group mobility is applicable here, which characterizes a society undergoing social changes, where the social significance of an entire class, estate, stratum rises or falls. For example, the October Revolution in Russia. As P. Sorokin showed on a huge historical material, the following factors acted as the causes of group mobility:

• social revolutions;
• foreign interventions, invasions;
• interstate wars;
• · civil wars;
• military coups;
• change of political regimes;
• replacement of the old constitution with a new one;
• · peasant uprisings;
• internecine struggle of aristocratic families;
• creation of an empire.

Group mobility takes place where there is a change in the very system of stratification, i.e. the very foundation of any society. In the modern period, such a type of horizontal mobility as migration is especially clearly manifested in Russian society. Migration is the process of changing the permanent place of residence of individuals or social groups, expressed in moving to another region or another country. Migration is external and internal. The external ones include emigration, immigration, and the internal one includes movement from the village to the city, inter-district resettlement, etc. Russia's participation in world migration flows became widespread in the late 80s and 90s. With the advent of the near abroad, a unique situation arose when, within the framework of the former USSR, internal migration immediately turned into external migration. There are four types of approaches to the phenomenon of migration. The first concept is interpreted most broadly, and all types of population movement are understood (social movements, staff turnover, professional movement). The second approach provides for all the diversity of the spatial movement of the population, regardless of its nature and goals (daily trips from one settlement to another to study, to work). The third approach is similar to the second, but it excludes occasional return trips from one point to another. The fourth implies the main process of spatial movement of the population, leading to territorial redistribution. Thus, the process of mobility as a whole takes on a variety of forms and is of a contradictory nature, during which social problems and conflicts often arise.

What is social mobility? A lot of students sooner or later begin to ask this question. And the answer to it is quite simple - it is a change in the social stratum. This concept is very easy to express through two similar ones - a social lift or a lighter, everyday one - a career. In this article, we will consider in more detail the concept of social mobility, its types, factors and other categories of this topic.

To get started, you need consider this concept. like social stratification. In simple terms, the structure of society. Each person occupies some place in this structure, has a certain status, amount of money, and so on. Mobility occurs when a person's position in society changes.

Social mobility - examples

You don't have to look far for examples. When a person started as an ordinary schoolboy and became a student, this is an example of social mobility. Or a person was without a permanent place of residence for 5 years, and then got a job - an example of social mobility. And when a person changes a profession to a similar one in status (for example, a freelancer doing Photoshop and a copywriter) - this is also an example of mobility.

Perhaps you know the proverb “from rags to riches”, which also expresses the transition from one status to another noticed by the people.

Types of social mobility

Social mobility can be both horizontal and vertical. Let's take a closer look at each type.

- this is a change in a social group while maintaining the same social status. Examples of horizontal mobility are a change in the religious community or the university in which a person studies. There are such types horizontal social mobility:

Vertical mobility

Vertical mobility is what a huge number of people dream about. And in the same way, sometimes it happens that it hurts. How does it work? And everything is very simple. But let's keep the intrigue a little and give a definition that you could logically derive a little earlier. If horizontal mobility is a change in social group, job, religion, and so on without changing status, then vertical mobility is the same, only with an increase in status.

However, vertical mobility may not imply a change in social group. A person can grow inside her. For example, he became the boss among his frustrated colleagues.

Vertical mobility happens:

• Upward social mobility. This is when status rises. For example, promotion.
• Downward social mobility. Accordingly, the status is lost. For example, a person became homeless.

There is also a concept like a social elevator. These are very fast social ladders. Although many researchers do not really like this term, because it does not describe the specifics of moving up very well. However, social elevators do exist. These are structures in which a person will in any case reach heights if he is a responsible executor for many years. An example of a social lift is the army, where ranks are given for the number of years spent in the service.

Speed ​​ladders of social mobility

It's not quite elevators, but not quite stairs. A person will have to make efforts in order to break through, but not so intense. Speaking more down to earth, these are the factors of social mobility that contribute to moving up in any modern society. Here they are:

Thus these points, if followed, open up many possibilities for you. The main thing is to start taking action.

Examples of social elevators

Examples of social lifts include marriage, the army, upbringing, rise in a religious organization, and so on. Here is the complete list given by Sorokin:

Don't miss: concept, its problems and functions in philosophy.

Social mobility in modern society

Now there are great opportunities for people. It's easy to get to the top right now. And all thanks to the market economy and democracy. The modern political system in most countries encourages people to become successful. As for our realities, everything is much more optimistic than in Soviet times, where the actual only social elevators there was an army and a party, but worse than in America due to high tax rates, poor competition (a lot of monopolists), high credit rates for entrepreneurs.

The problem with Russian legislation is that entrepreneurs often have to balance on the edge in order to break through in their careers. But you can't say it's impossible. You just have to push harder.

Examples of Rapid Social Mobility

There are a huge number of people who were able to quickly achieve great heights. However, everyone has their own concept of “fast”. For some, success in ten years is fast enough (which is objectively true), and for some, even two years is an unaffordable luxury.

Usually, when people look for examples of people who have quickly become successful, they hope that their example will show them that it is not necessary to do something. But this is disastrously wrong.. You will have to work, and a lot, and even make a bunch of failed attempts. So, Thomas Edison, before making a cheap light bulb, tried 10 thousand different combinations, his company suffered losses for 3 years, and only in the fourth year he achieved a resounding success. Is it fast? The author of the article thinks so. It is possible to achieve social success quickly only if you make a very large number of thoughtful actions and attempts every day. And for this you need remarkable willpower.

conclusions

So, social mobility is a change of place in the structure of society. Moreover, according to the status, a person can remain the same (horizontal mobility), higher or lower (vertical mobility). The elevator is an institution within which it becomes available fast enough moving up the ladder of success. Allocate elevators such as the army, religion, family, politics, education, and so on. The factors of social mobility are education, money, entrepreneurship, connections, skill, reputation, and so on.

Types of social mobility: horizontal and vertical (ascending and descending).

Recently, greater mobility has been characteristic than before, especially in the post-Soviet space, but there is still room for improvement. Features of social mobility are such that everyone can become successful, but not always - in the desired area. It all depends on the society where a person wants to move in an upward direction.