Social mobility: the essence and types

Social mobility is an opportunity and the very fact of the displacement of a person or an entire social group between different social positions of the system of social stratification. This concept characterizes the society and its structure in dynamics. The theory of this problem was elaborated in detail by P. Sorokin.

The types of social mobility are as follows. First of all, they distinguish between individual and group mobility. The first characterizes the movement of one person, which occurs independently of others. In the process of moving between social groups, layers, when changing statuses, the individual uses such modes of mobility as changing his own way of life; Conscious development of a new status (typical for a certain level) behavior; Changing the habitual social environment; Marriage with a representative of another (preferably higher) status stratum; Receipt education.

The second is the collective movement in connection with the change in the social significance of the entire class of people, estates, etc. It can be provoked by civil wars, foreign interventions, the creation of empires, the overthrow of regimes. Such organized group movement of people can also be initiated by the state from above. It can be carried out with the consent of people or without it (Komsomol construction in the USSR, the repatriation of Chechens and Ingush, etc.) Therefore, social mobility is both voluntary and involuntary.

The opposite type of organized mobility is structural (forced), in which the movement between social categories occurs due to changes in the professional structure (creating new jobs, the emergence of new industries). Such changes occur in addition to people's will. Reduction, for example, of economic sectors, and with it of jobs, forces people to seek new uses, changing their habitual status. The causes of such changes can be rooted in economic growth, technological revolutions, political changes, changes in the birth rate.

Exchange (circular or true) social mobility denotes the mutual exchange of individuals between the layers of society. Social movements that occur in this case are due to personal achievements (failures) of people, the emergence of new systemic capabilities of any quality (educational, political, legal). An example is the movement of residents of Russia's near abroad to its large cities for the purpose of earning.

Particular attention should be paid to such basic types of movement of people in society as horizontal and vertical social mobility. The vertical movement is understood as the transition of people from one class to another, under the horizontal movement, from one social group to another, while maintaining their social status. For example, changing jobs to similar in status is called labor horizontal mobility; Place of residence in a settlement of equal status - horizontal migration.

When moving vertically, people change their social status, increasing it (upward mobility) or lowering (downward). Examples of these displacements: increase or decrease in the post. The main channels for such movements are: the church, the family, government groups, the school, political parties and organizations, professional organizations.

Social mobility can also be intergenerational (changing the status of children in comparison with their parents) and intrasocial (changing a person's status throughout his life).