Give examples of vertical and horizontal social mobility. Concept of social mobility

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Social stratification and social mobility

50 Social mobility

3.1 Social stratification and mobility 📚 Unified State Exam in SOCIAL STUDIES

Social sphere: Social mobility and social elevators. Foxford Online Learning Center

Alexander Filippov - Social mobility

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Scientific definition

Social mobility- a change by an individual or group in 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 at the same level (example: transition to another religious community, change of citizenship). Distinguish individual mobility- movement of one person independently of others, and group - movement occurs collectively. In addition, there is geographic mobility - 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 type of geographic 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 permanent residence and changed his profession).

Vertical mobility

Vertical mobility- promotion of an individual up or down the career ladder.

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

Social elevator

Social elevator- 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 or, in a broader context, a change of position in the social hierarchy rather than in the service hierarchy. A more rigid definition of rotation, reminiscent of the fact that social elevators work in both directions, is the concept of the wheel of fortune.

Generational mobility

Intergenerational mobility is 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 plant director). To vertical and horizontal mobility influenced by gender, age, birth rate, death rate, population density. In general, men and young people are more mobile than women and older people. Overpopulated countries more often experience the consequences of emigration (relocation from one country to another due to economic, political, personal circumstances) 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.

Theory of social mobility by Pitirim Aleksandrovich Sorokin

Group mobility

You can make a career alone or in a group. There is individual and group mobility. When there are collective (caste, class, race, etc.) privileges or restrictions on mobility, then representatives of lower groups may try to rebel in order to achieve the abolition of these restrictions and their entire group to move up the rungs of the social ladder. Examples of group mobility:

• In ancient India, the varna of brahmanas (priests) achieved superiority over the varna of kshatriyas (warriors). This is an example of collective ascension.
• The Bolsheviks were insignificant before the October Revolution; after it, they all rose together to the status previously occupied by the tsarist aristocracy. This is an example of collective ascension.
• The social status of the Pope and bishops has declined over the past three centuries. This is an example of collective descent.

Mobile and immobile types of societies.

In a mobile type of society, the degree of vertical mobility is very high, and in a stationary type of society it is very small. An example of the second kind is the caste system in India, although the degree of vertical mobility is never equal to 0, even in Ancient India. The degree of vertical mobility must be limited. On each “floor” there must be a “sieve” that sifts individuals, otherwise people unfit for this role may end up in leadership positions, and the entire society may perish because of this during a war or as a result of lack of reforms. The degree of vertical mobility can be measured, for example, by the share of “upstarts” among rulers and senior officials, calculated as a percentage. These "upstarts" began their careers as poor people and ended up as rulers. Sorokin showed the difference between countries (for the last three data, of course, until the second half of the 20th century) in the degree of vertical mobility:

• Western Roman Empire − 45.6%
• Eastern Roman Empire - 27.7%
• Russia before the October Revolution - 5.5%
• USA - 48.3%

Sieve testing

In any society there are many who want to move up, but few succeed in achieving this goal, since this is prevented by “sieves” at each level of the social hierarchy. When a person comes to apply for a job, he is assessed according to several criteria:

• Family background. A good family is able to give its child good heredity and good level education. In practice, this criterion was applied in Sparta, Ancient Rome, Assyria, Egypt, Ancient India and China, where the son inherited the status and profession of his father. The modern family is unstable, therefore, today a norm is beginning to emerge to evaluate a person not by family origin, but by personal qualities. Even Peter I in Russia introduced a table of ranks, according to which promotion depended not on “breed”, but on personal merit.
• Level of education. The function of the school is not only to “infuse” knowledge, but also to determine, through examinations and observations, who is talented and who is not, in order to weed out the latter. If the school tests the intelligence of students, then the church tests the moral qualities. Heretics and pagans were not allowed to hold positions of responsibility.

Professional organizations recheck the compliance of a person’s abilities with the records in the educational diploma; they test the specific qualities of people: voice for a singer, strength for a wrestler, etc. At work, every day and every hour becomes a test for a person’s professional suitability. This test can be considered definitive.

What does overproduction or underproduction of the elite lead to?

There is an optimal ratio between the number of people in the elite and the entire population. Overproduction of the number of people in the elite leads to civil war or revolution. For example, the Sultan in Turkey had a large harem and many sons, who mercilessly began to destroy each other after the death of the Sultan in the struggle for the throne. Overproduction of the elite in modern society leads to the fact that losers from the elite begin to organize underground organizations with the aim of organizing an armed takeover of power.

The underproduction of the elite due to the low birth rate among the upper strata leads to the need to give up some of the elite positions to people who have not undergone selection. This causes social instability and deep contradictions within the elite between “degenerates” and “upstarts.” Too strict control in the selection of the elite often leads to a complete stop of the “elevators”, to the degeneration of the elite and to the “subversive” activities of low-ranking rulers by vocation, who cannot make a legal career and seek to physically destroy the “degenerates” and take their elite positions.

List of social mobility elevators

Selection of elevator (channel) social mobility has great value when choosing a profession and when recruiting personnel. Sorokin named eight elevators of vertical mobility, along which people move up or down the steps of the social ladder in the course of their personal career:

• Army. 36 Roman emperors (Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, etc.) out of 92 achieved their position through military service. 12 Byzantine emperors out of 65 achieved their status for the same reason.
• Religious organizations. The importance of this elevator reached its apogee in the Middle Ages, when the bishop was also a landlord, when the Pope could dismiss kings and emperors, for example, Gregory VII (the Pope) in 1077 deposed, humiliated and excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. Of the 144 popes, 28 were of simple origin, 27 came from the middle classes. The institution of celibacy prohibited Catholic priests from marrying and having children, so after their death, the vacated positions were filled by new people, which prevented the formation of a hereditary oligarchy and accelerated the process of vertical mobility. Prophet Muhammad was first a simple merchant and then became the ruler of Arabia.
• School and scientific organizations . In ancient China, school was the main elevator in society. Based on the recommendations of Confucius, a system of educational selection (selection) was built. Schools were open to all classes, the best students were transferred to higher schools, and then to universities, from where the best students entered the government and the highest government and military posts. There was no hereditary aristocracy. The government of mandarins in China was a government of intellectuals who knew how to write literary works, but did not understand business and did not know how to fight, so China more than once became easy prey for nomads (Mongols and Manchus) and European colonialists. In modern society, the main elevators should be business and politics. The school elevator was also of great importance in Turkey under Suleiman the Magnificent (1522-1566) when talented children from all over the country were sent to special schools, then to the Janissary corps, and then to the guard and state apparatus. In ancient India, lower castes did not have the right to education, that is, the school elevator moved only on the upper floors. Today in the United States you cannot hold public office without a university degree. Of the 829 British geniuses, 71 were the sons of unskilled workers. 4% of Russian academicians came from peasant backgrounds, for example, Lomonosov Trimalchio, Palladium, Narcissus. King Jugurtha of Numidia through bribery officials Rima sought Rome's support in his struggle for the throne at the end of the 2nd century. BC e. Ultimately expelled from Rome, he called the “eternal” city a corrupt city. R. Gretton wrote about the rise of the English bourgeoisie: “While the aristocracy and landed nobility in the 15th century. destroyed and ruined each other, the middle class went uphill, accumulating wealth. As a result, the nation woke up one day to new masters.” The middle class bought all the desired titles and privileges with money.
• Family and marriage. According to ancient Roman law, if a free woman married a slave, then her children became slaves, and the son of a slave and a free man became a slave. Today there is a “pull” between rich brides and poor aristocrats, when in the case of marriage both partners receive mutual benefits: the bride receives a title, and the groom receives wealth.

Start developing problems social mobility was laid down by P. A. Sorokin in the book “Social Stratification and Mobility” (1927). The term gained recognition first in American and then in world sociology.

Under social mobility, understand the transition of an individual (group) from one social position to another. There are two main types of social mobility.

• 1. Horizontal mobility associated with the transition of an individual from one social group to another located at the same level. At the same time, the secondary indicators of the individual’s status position (prestige, income, education, power) change and remain unchanged. This is the nature of moving to live from one settlement in another of the same rank, change of religion or citizenship, transition from one family to another (during divorce or remarriage), from one enterprise to another, etc. In all these cases, there are no noticeable changes in the social position of the individual in the vertical direction.
• 2. Vertical mobility presupposes a situation that develops as a result of the movement of an individual (group) from one level of the social hierarchy to another. Vertical mobility can be rising And descending.

Depending on the factors that caused social movements of citizens, there are organized And structural mobility.

Organized mobility is associated with the fact that changes in the social status of a person and entire groups of people are directed by the state and various public institutions(parties, churches, trade unions, etc.). Such activities could be:

voluntary, in the case when it is carried out with the consent of citizens (for example, the practice of sending students to study at higher and secondary specialized educational institutions);

forced, if carried out under the influence of any circumstances independent of us (moving from places where there is no work to where it is available; moving from places where a natural disaster occurred, a man-made disaster);

forced, if this is related to the sending of citizens by court decision to places of deprivation of liberty.

Structural mobility caused by changes caused by social transformations (nationalization, industrialization, privatization, etc.) and even a change in types social organization(revolution). The result of this kind of change is:

• a) mass movement of people and entire social groups;
• b) changing the principles of social stratification;
• c) reorientation of the directions along which the social movement of people occurs over a long historical period.

Vivid examples illustrating the nature of this kind of processes are the French Revolution of 1789 and the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia. Their result was not only the seizure of power by certain political forces, but also a change in the very type of social structure, the entire social structure of society.

The balance between horizontal and vertical mobility can be quite complex. For example, when moving to live from a village to a city, from a small town to a big one, from a province to the capital, an individual raises his social status, but at the same time, due to some other parameters, he can lower it: lower income level, housing insecurity , lack of demand for the previous profession and qualifications, etc.

In the event that territorial movements are combined with a change of status, we are talking about migration(from Latin migration - movement). Migration can be external(between different countries) And internal(between regions of the same country). There are also emigration, i.e. travel of citizens outside the country, and immigration, i.e. entry of foreigners into the country. Both types involve the movement of citizens for long periods or even permanently. There are various forms of migration: economic, political, migration of war victims and natural disasters etc.

Mass migrations also took place in the past (the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus', the Crusades, the colonization of the New World, etc.). However, only at the end of the 19th century, when migration flows became stable, were the main directions of movement identified. In addition, the following was established:

• 1. Migration occurs from south to north and from east to west.
• 2. Millions of migrants seek to leave countries and territories plunged into war, ethnic and religious conflicts, natural disasters (droughts, floods, earthquakes, etc.).
• 3. The final destinations of migration are Western countries with stable economies and developed democracies (North America, Western Europe, Australia).

Russia in the 20th century experienced three waves of emigration.

At the same time, Russia itself has become a place where, according to various sources, from 5 to 15 million illegal immigrants live, of which more than one and a half million are Chinese citizens.

Processes of social mobility (mobility) are present in any society. Another thing is that its scale and distance can be different. Both upward and downward mobility are close and long-distance in equal measure.

The more open a particular society is, the more people have the opportunity to move up the social ladder, making, in particular, an upward movement up to the highest positions. One of important points American social mythology turns out to be the idea of ​​the so-called equal opportunity societies, where anyone can become a millionaire or president of the United States. The example of Bill Gates, the creator and head of Microsoft, suggests that this myth has a basis in reality.

The closed nature of traditional society (caste, class) limits people's prospects, reducing long-distance mobility to almost zero. Social mobility here serves the purpose of reproducing the dominant model of stratification. Thus, in India, movements are traditionally limited by the caste to which the individual belongs, and mobility has strictly defined parameters (in a totalitarian society, an ideological aspect is also added).

Most models of social order, past and present, equally exhibit characteristics of openness and closedness. For example, class division Russian society in the 18th – early 20th centuries was combined with the Law on Order signed by Peter I civil service(1722), better known as the Table of Ranks. They legitimized the very possibility of a person acquiring a higher status based on personal merit. Thanks to this law, the Russian state received hundreds and thousands of gifted administrators, statesmen, generals, etc.

In addition to upward and downward mobility, intergenerational and intragenerational mobility are distinguished.

Intergenerational mobility indicates the relationship between the positions achieved by children and the positions occupied by their parents. Comparing indicators that characterize social status different generations (fathers and sons, mothers and daughters), sociology gets an idea of ​​the nature and direction of changes in society.

Intragenerational mobility characterizes the ratio of positions occupied by the same individual at different moments of his life, during which he can repeatedly acquire or lose certain statuses, occupying a more privileged position in some, losing it in others, making ascents or descents.

Factors of social mobility. Vertical mobility in society is possible thanks to the availability of special channels of social mobility. P. A. Sorokin, who first described their action, speaks of them as “certain “membranes”, “holes”, “stairs”, “elevators” or “paths” along which individuals are allowed to move up or down from one layer to another". All these formulations are rooted in the sociological literature and are used to explain what factors due to which some individuals and entire groups rise upward, while others at the same time fall down.

Channels of mobility traditionally include institutions of education, property, marriage, the army, etc. Thus, obtaining an education gives an individual the knowledge and qualifications that allow him to apply for professional activity or to occupy a corresponding position. Profitable investment funds for the purchase of a land plot can, over time, lead to a significant increase in its value or the discovery of some valuable natural resource on it (oil, gas, etc.), which will give its owner the status of a wealthy person.

As P. A. Sorokin notes, mobility channels also act as a “sieve”, “filters” through which society “tests and sifts, selects and distributes its individuals into various social strata and positions.” With their help, the process is ensured social selection(selection), limiting access to the upper floors of the hierarchy in various ways. The latter is related to the interests of those who have already achieved a privileged position, i.e. upper class. Western sociologists argue that “existing classification systems do not define this group at all.” Meanwhile, it exists and has its own characteristics:

• 1) inherited wealth, transmitted and increased from generation to generation. This feature unites the owners of “old” money, the legitimacy of which no one doubts. The basis of capital, as a rule, is family business;
• 2) similar educational experience and level of culture. Thus, in the UK, 73% of directors of large companies, 83% of managers financial institutions and 80% of judges attended charter schools, although only 8.2% of British schoolchildren attend them;
• 3) maintaining the established ones from the time of study personal contacts, which extend to the sphere of business relations, business and politics, public service;
• 4) a high percentage of marriages within the class, as they say homogamy(from the Greek homos - equal and gamos - marriage), as a result of which the internal cohesion of the group increases.

These characteristics characterize the permanent component of this group, called establishment(English, establishment - ruling elite). At the same time, there is a layer of people who have penetrated the upper class by making their own careers. Of course, the upper class needs to be replenished with fresh forces, those who, thanks to their own efforts, are able to climb the social ladder. The idea of ​​updating and replenishing the upper class with the most capable people who have confirmed their merits was substantiated in the works of the Italian sociologist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923). His approach, called meritocratic(from Latin meritus - worthy and Greek kratos - power), is that if the elite of society does not co-opt the most worthy representatives of the lower classes into its composition, then it will inevitably fail. In modern interpretations, for example by the American scientist Daniel Bell, the upper class also includes groups of professionals with higher education using their specialized knowledge as a means of asserting their own power status.

In sociology, when describing the forms of social hierarchy, they often resort to geometric images. Thus, P. A. Sorokin presented a model of the stratification of society, created according to economic parameters, in the form of a cone, each of the levels of which fixes a certain position of wealth and income. In his opinion, in different periods the shape of the cone can change, sometimes becoming excessively sharp when social stratification and inequality in society grows, sometimes, on the contrary, becoming more squat, up to turning into a flat trapezoid during equalizing communist experiments. Both the first and second are dangerous, threatening a social explosion and collapse in one case and complete stagnation of society in the other.

The representative of American functionalism B. Barber believes that depending on the greater or lesser degree of hierarchy in society, i.e. more or less sharply pointed towards the top, the stratification of society can be depicted in the form of a pyramid and a rhombus. These figures show that there is always a minority in society, i.e. the highest class, with ranks closer to the top. With a pyramidal structure, there is a very small middle class layer, and the majority is the lower class. The diamond-shaped structure is characterized by the predominance of the middle class, which gives balance to the entire system, while the minority is represented in the upper and lower acute corners of the diamond.

TO middle class, as a rule, include those who have economic independence, i.e. has his own business (small enterprise, workshop, gas station, etc.); they are most often characterized as old middle class. There is an upper layer of the middle class, which consists of managers and professionals (doctors, college teachers, highly qualified lawyers, etc.), as well as a lower layer (office and sales employees, nurses and many others). The middle class is extremely heterogeneous in its position. Located in the hierarchy system between the “tops” and the social “bottoms,” it also turns out to be the most mobile. In modern society, the middle class, on the one hand, feeds the elite with talented and enterprising people, and on the other, ensures the stability of basic social structures.

Lower class, in Marxist terminology, – working class, consisting of people engaged in manual labor. It is as deeply structured as all other components of the social hierarchy.

The difference between highly skilled workers and representatives of the so-called underclass(English: underclass - lower class) is very large in terms of all main indicators (income, professional preparedness, education, etc.). Representatives of the latter have poor working conditions, their standard of living is significantly lower than that of the majority of the population. Many of them remain unemployed for a long time or periodically lose it. The formation of the underclass is carried out mainly at the expense of ethnic minorities and various kinds of marginal elements. For example, in Great Britain they are dominated by blacks and people of color from former British colonies, in France they are people from North Africa, and in Germany they are Turks and Kurds.

In recent years, Western governments have sought to more actively filter the migration flows flowing into these countries and potentially multiplying the size of the underclass. Thus, in Canada, legal requirements for immigrants require that they have vocational education, qualifications and work experience in the specialty. Satisfying these requirements in practice means that immigrants will be able to more successfully fit into the existing system of stratification of society.

Society these days is developing at a rapid pace. This leads to the emergence of new positions, a significant increase in the number of social movements, their speed and frequency.

What's happened

Sorokin Pitirim was the first to study such a concept as social mobility. Today, many researchers continue the work he began, since its relevance is very great.

Social mobility is expressed in the fact that the position of a particular person in the hierarchy of groups, in his relation to the means of production, in the division of labor and in the system as a whole industrial relations is significantly transformed. This change is associated with the loss or acquisition of property, the transition to new position, obtaining an education, mastering a profession, getting married, etc.

People are in constant motion, and society is constantly evolving. This indicates the variability of its structure. The totality of all social movements, that is, changes in an individual or group, 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; hardworking Cinderella finds a rich prince and marries him, thereby increasing her prestige and status; the poor prince suddenly becomes a king.

However, the movement of history is determined mainly not by individuals, not by their social mobility. Social groups are what is more important to her. The landed aristocracy, for example, was replaced at a certain stage by the financial bourgeoisie, from modern production people with low-skilled professions are being forced out by “white collar” workers - programmers, engineers, operators. Revolutions and wars reshaped the top of the pyramid, raising some and lowering others. Such changes in Russian society occurred, for example, in 1917, after the October Revolution.

Let us consider the 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 one generation or two or three. The change in the position of children compared to the positions of their parents is evidence of their mobility. On the contrary, social stability occurs when a certain position of generations is preserved.

Social mobility can be intergenerational (intergenerational) and intragenerational (intragenerational). In addition, there are 2 main types of it - horizontal and vertical. In turn, they fall into subtypes and subspecies, closely related to each other.

Intergenerational social mobility means an increase or, conversely, a decrease in the status in society of representatives of subsequent generations in relation to the status of the current one. That is, children achieve a higher or lower position in society than their parents. For example, if the son of a miner becomes an engineer, we can talk about intergenerational upward mobility. And the 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 called a social career. A turner, for example, can become an engineer, then a shop manager, then he can be promoted to plant 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.

Depending on the direction of this movement, upward mobility (upward movement, social ascent) and downward mobility (downward movement, social descent) are distinguished. For example, promotion is an example of upward mobility, while demotion or dismissal is an example of downward movement.

The concept of horizontal social mobility means that an individual moves from a social group to another that is at the same level. Examples include moving from a Catholic to an Orthodox religious group, changing citizenship, moving from one's parental family to one's own, from one profession to another.

Geographic mobility

Geographic social mobility is a type of horizontal mobility. It does not mean a change in group or status, but a move to another place while maintaining the same social status. As an example, we can cite interregional and international tourism, moving and back. Geographic social mobility in modern society is also a transition from one company to another while maintaining status (for example, 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 talk about it when a change of status is added to a change of place. For example, if a village resident came to the city to visit his relatives, then geographic mobility occurs. However, if he moved here for permanent residence and started working in the city, then this is already migration.

Factors influencing horizontal and vertical mobility

Note that the nature of horizontal and vertical social mobility of people is influenced by age, gender, mortality and birth rates, and population density. Men, and young people in general, are more mobile than older people and women. In overpopulated states, emigration is higher than immigration. Places with high birth rates have younger populations and are therefore more mobile. Young people are more likely to have professional mobility, older people - political mobility, and adults - economic mobility.

The birth rate is not equally distributed across classes. As a rule, the lower classes have more children, and the upper classes have fewer. The higher a person rises on the social ladder, the fewer children he has. Even if every son of a rich man takes the place of his father, voids will still form in the social pyramid, at its upper steps. They are filled by people from 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 along the social ladder, regardless of other people. Group mobility - moving up, down or horizontally along the social ladder certain group people. For example, old class After the revolution, he was forced to cede his dominant position to the new one.

Group and individual mobility are connected in a certain way with achieved and ascribed statuses. In this case, the individual corresponds to a greater extent with the achieved status, and the group - with the ascribed one.

Organized and structured

These are the basic concepts of the topic that interests us. When considering the types of social mobility, organized mobility is sometimes also distinguished, when the movement of an individual or groups down, up or horizontally is controlled by the state, both with and without the consent of people. Organized voluntary mobility includes socialist organizational recruitment, conscription for construction sites, etc. Involuntary - dispossession and resettlement of small nations during the period of Stalinism.

Structural mobility, caused by changes in the very structure of the economy, should be distinguished from organized mobility. It occurs beyond the consciousness and will of individual people. For example, social mobility of a society is greater when professions or industries disappear. In this case, large masses of people move, and not just individuals.

For clarity, let us consider the conditions for increasing a person’s status in two subspaces - professional and political. Any ascent of a government official career ladder reflected as a change in rank in the state hierarchy. You can also increase your political weight by increasing your rank in the party hierarchy. If an official is one of the activists or functionaries of the party that became ruling after the parliamentary elections, then he has a much greater chance of occupying a leadership position in the municipal or public administration. 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 horizontally or vertically 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.

Horizontal mobility is the transition of an individual from one social group to another, located at the same level (example: moving from an Orthodox to a Catholic religious group, from one citizenship to another). There is a distinction between individual mobility - the movement of one person independently of others, and group mobility - movement occurs collectively. In addition, geographic 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 type of geographic mobility, the concept is distinguished migration- moving from one place to another with a change in status (example: a person moved to the city for permanent residence and changed his profession).

1. Vertical mobility

Vertical mobility is the advancement of a person up or down the career ladder.

Upward mobility - social rise, upward movement (For example: promotion).

Downward mobility - social descent, downward movement (For example: demotion).

1. Generational mobility

Intergenerational mobility is a comparative change in social status among different generations (example: a worker's son 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 plant director). Vertical and horizontal mobility are influenced by gender, age, birth rate, death rate, and population density. In general, men and the young are more mobile than women and the elderly. Overpopulated countries more often experience the consequences of emigration (relocation from one country to another due to economic, political, personal circumstances) 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.

20. Stratification of modern Russian society

Modern studies of the factors, criteria and patterns of stratification of Russian society make it possible to identify layers and groups that differ in both social status and place in the process of reforming Russian society. According to hypothesis put forward by RAS academician T.I. Zaslavskaya, Russian society consists of four social layers: upper, middle, basic and lower, as well as a desocialized “social bottom”. The upper layer includes, first of all, the actual ruling layer, which acts as the main subject of reforms. It includes elite and subelite groups that occupy the most important positions in the public administration system, in economic and security structures. They are united by the fact of being in power and the ability to directly influence the reform processes. The middle layer is the embryo of the middle layer in the Western sense of the term. True, the majority of its representatives do not have capital that ensures personal independence, or a level of professionalism that meets the requirements of a post-industrial society, or high social prestige. In addition, this layer is still too small and cannot serve as a guarantor of social stability. In the future, a full-fledged middle stratum in Russia will be formed on the basis of social groups that today form the corresponding proto-stratum. These are small entrepreneurs, managers of medium and small enterprises, the middle level of the bureaucracy, senior officers, the most qualified and capable specialists and workers. The basic social stratum covers more than 2/3 of Russian society. Its representatives have average professional and qualification potential and relatively limited labor potential. The base layer includes the bulk of the intelligentsia (specialists), semi-intelligentsia (assistants to specialists), technical personnel, workers in mass trade and service professions, and most of the peasantry. Although the social status, mentality, interests and behavior of these groups are different, their role in the transition process is quite similar - this is, first of all, adaptation to changing conditions in order to survive and, if possible, maintain the achieved status. The lower layer closes the main, socialized part of society; its structure and functions seem to be the least clear. The distinctive features of its representatives are low activity potential and inability to adapt to the harsh socio-economic conditions of the transition period. Basically, this layer consists of elderly, poorly educated, not very healthy and strong people, from those who do not have professions, and often no permanent occupation, place of residence, unemployed, refugees and forced migrants from areas of interethnic conflicts. Signs of representatives of this layer are very low personal and family income, low level of education, employment in unskilled labor or lack of permanent work. The social bottom is characterized mainly by isolation from the social institutions of large society, compensated by inclusion in specific criminal and semi-criminal institutions. This implies the isolation of social ties mainly within the stratum itself, desocialization, and loss of skills of legitimate social life. Representatives of the social bottom are criminals and semi-criminal elements - thieves, bandits, drug dealers, brothel keepers, small and large swindlers, hired killers, as well as degenerate people - alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, tramps, homeless people, etc. Other researchers present a picture social strata in modern Russia as follows: economic and political elite (no more than 0.5%); top layer (6.5%); middle layer (21%); remaining layers (72%). The upper layer includes the top of the state bureaucracy, most of the generals, large landowners, heads of industrial corporations, financial institutions, large and successful entrepreneurs. A third of the representatives of this group are not older than 30 years, the share of women is less than a quarter, the share of non-Russians is one and a half times higher than the national average. In recent years, noticeable aging of this layer has been observed, which indicates that it is confined within its boundaries. The level of education is very high, although not much higher than that of the middle class. Two-thirds live in large cities, a third own their own enterprises and firms, a fifth are engaged in highly paid mental work, 45% are employed, most of them in the public sector. The incomes of this stratum, unlike the incomes of the rest, are growing faster than prices, i.e. here further accumulation of wealth occurs. The material situation of this layer is not just higher, it is qualitatively different from the situation of others. Thus, the upper layer has the most powerful economic and energy potential and can be considered as the new master of Russia, on whom, it would seem, one should pin hopes. However, this layer is highly criminalized, socially selfish and short-sighted - it does not show concern for strengthening and maintaining the current situation. In addition, he is in defiant confrontation with the rest of society, and partnerships with other social groups are difficult. Using their rights and new opportunities, the upper layer is not adequately aware of the responsibilities and duties that accompany these rights. For these reasons, there is no reason to pin hopes on Russia’s development along a liberal path with this layer. The middle layer is the most promising in this sense. It is developing very quickly (in 1993 it was 14%, in 1996 it was already 21%). Socially, its composition is extremely heterogeneous and includes: the lower business layer - small business(44%); qualified specialists - professionals (37%); middle level of employees (middle bureaucrats, military personnel, non-production workers (19%). The number of all these groups is growing, with professionals being the fastest, followed by businessmen, and office workers slower than others. The selected groups occupy positions higher or lower, so it is more correct to consider they are not by middle layers, but by groups of one middle layer or, more precisely, by groups of the proto-stratum, since many of its features are just being formed (the boundaries are still blurred, political integration is weak, the self-identification is low: the financial situation of the proto-stratum is improving: from 1993 to 1996, the share of the poor). decreased from 23 to 7%. However, the social well-being of this group is subject to the most dramatic fluctuations, especially for employees. At the same time, it is this proto-stratum that should be considered as a potential source of the formation (apparently, in two or three decades) of a real middle stratum - a class that. capable of gradually becoming a guarantor of social sustainability of society, uniting that part of Russian society that has the greatest socially active innovative potential and is more interested in the liberalization of social relations.(Maksimov A. Middle class translated into Russian//Open Politics. 1998. May. pp. 58-63.)

21. Personality- a concept developed to reflect social nature of man, considering him as a subject of sociocultural life, defining him as a bearer of an individual principle, self-revealing in the contexts of social relations, communication and objective activity . By “personality” we understand: 1) the human individual as a subject of relationships and conscious activity (“person” in the broad sense of the word) or 2) a stable system of socially significant traits that characterize the individual as a member of a particular society or community. Although these two concepts - face as the integrity of a person (Latin persona) and personality as his social and psychological appearance (Latin resonalitas) - are terminologically quite distinguishable, they are sometimes used as synonyms.

22. Sociological theories of personality. Status-role concept of personality.

There are psychodynamic, analytical, humanistic, cognitive, behavioral, activity and dispositive theories of personality.

The founder of the psychodynamic theory of personality, also known as “classical psychoanalysis,” is the Austrian scientist S. Freud. Within the framework of psychodynamic theory, personality is a system of sexual and aggressive motives, on the one hand, and defense mechanisms, on the other, and the personality structure is an individually different ratio of individual properties, individual blocks (instances) and defense mechanisms.

The analytical theory of personality is close to the theory of classical psychoanalysis, since it has many common roots with it. The most prominent representative of this approach is the Swiss researcher K. Jung. According to analytical theory, personality is a set of innate and realized archetypes, and personality structure is defined as the individual originality of the relationship between individual properties of archetypes, individual blocks of the unconscious and conscious, as well as extroverted or introverted personality attitudes.

Proponents of the humanistic theory of personality in psychology (K. Rogers and A. Maslow) consider innate tendencies towards self-actualization to be the main source of personality development. Within the framework of humanistic theory, personality is inner world human “I” as a result of self-actualization, and the personality structure is the individual relationship between the “real I” and the “ideal I”, as well as the individual level of development of needs for self-actualization.

The cognitive theory of personality is close to the humanistic one, but it has a number of significant differences. The founder of this approach is the American psychologist J. Kelly. In his opinion, the only thing a person wants to know in life is what happened to him and what will happen to him in the future. According to cognitive theory, personality is a system of organized personal constructs in which it is processed (perceived and interpreted) personal experience person. The structure of personality within the framework of this approach is considered as an individually unique hierarchy of constructs.

The behavioral theory of personality also has another name - “scientific”, since the main thesis of this theory states: our personality is a product of learning. Within this approach, personality is a system of social skills and conditioned reflexes, on the one hand, and a system of internal factors: self-efficacy, subjective significance and accessibility, on the other. According to the behavioral theory of personality, personality structure is a complexly organized hierarchy of reflexes or social skills, in which the leading role is played by the internal blocks of self-efficacy, subjective significance and accessibility.

The activity theory of personality has become most widespread in Russian psychology. Among the researchers who made the greatest contribution to its development, we should name, first of all, S. L. Rubinshtein, K. A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, A. V. Brushlinsky. Within the framework of activity theory, a person is a conscious subject who occupies a certain position in society and performs a socially useful public role. Personality structure is a complexly organized hierarchy of individual properties, blocks (direction, abilities, character, self-control) and systemic existential-being properties of a personality.

Proponents of the dispositional theory of personality consider the main source of personality development to be factors of gene-environment interaction, with some directions emphasizing primarily influences from genetics, others - from the environment. Within the framework of dispositional theory, personality is a complex system of formal-dynamic properties (temperament), traits and socially determined properties. Personality structure is an organized hierarchy of individual biologically determined properties that are included in certain relationships and form certain types of temperament and traits, as well as a set of meaningful properties.

Status-role concept of personality.

The role theory of personality describes its social behavior with 2 main concepts: “social status” and “social role”.

Every person in social system occupies several positions. Each of these positions, which implies certain rights and responsibilities, is called status. A person can have several statuses. But more often than not, only one determines his position in society. This status is called main or integral. It often happens that the main status is determined by his position (for example, director, professor). Social status is reflected both in external behavior and appearance (clothing, jargon) and in internal position (attitudes, values, orientations).

There are prescribed and acquired statuses. The prescribed status is determined by society regardless of the efforts and merits of the individual. It is determined by origin, place of birth, family, etc. The acquired (achieved) status is determined by the efforts and abilities of the person himself (for example, writer, doctor, expert, management consultant, doctor of science, etc.).

There are also natural and professional official statuses. The natural status of a person presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (man, woman, child, youth, old man, etc.). Professional and official status is the basic status of an individual; for an adult it is most often the basis of social status. It records the social, economic, organizational, production, and managerial position (engineer, chief technologist, shop manager, human resources manager, etc.). Typically, two forms of profession status are noted: economic and prestigious. The economic component of the social status of a profession (economic status) depends on the level of material remuneration expected when choosing and implementing a professional path (choice of profession, professional self-determination). The prestigious component of social status depends on the profession (prestigious status, prestige of the profession).

Social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system. The totality of demands placed on an individual by society forms the content social role. A social role is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform. Each status usually includes a number of roles.

One of the first attempts to systematize roles was made by T. Parsons. He believed that every role is described by 5 main characteristics:

1. emotional - some roles require emotional restraint, others - looseness

2. method of obtaining - some are prescribed, others are conquered

3. scale - some roles are formulated and strictly limited, others are blurred

4. normalization - action in strictly established rules, or arbitrarily

5. motivation - for personal profit, for the common good

The social role should be considered in 2 aspects:

role expectations

· role-playing.

There is never a complete coincidence between them. But each of them is of great importance in the behavior of an individual. Our roles are determined primarily by what others expect of us. These expectations are associated with the status that a given person has.

In the normal structure of a social role, 4 elements are usually distinguished:

1. description of the type of behavior corresponding to this role

2. prescription (requirements) associated with this behavior

3. assessment of fulfillment of the prescribed role

4. sanctions - the social consequences of a particular action within the framework of the requirements of the social system. Social sanctions can be moral in nature, implemented directly social group through her behavior (contempt), or legal, political, environmental.

It should be noted that any role is not a pure model of behavior. The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the individual, i.e. the behavior of a particular person does not fit into a pure scheme.