INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
People are in constant motion, and society is in development. The totality of social movements of people in society, i.e. changes in their status is called social mobility. This topic has interested humanity for a long time. The unexpected rise of a man or his sudden fall is a favorite subject. folk tales: a cunning beggar suddenly becomes a rich man, a poor prince becomes a king, and a hardworking Cinderella marries a prince, thereby increasing her status and prestige.
However, the history of mankind is made up not so much of individual destinies, but of the movement of great social groups. The landed aristocracy is being replaced by the financial bourgeoisie, low-skilled professions are being squeezed out of modern production by representatives of the so-called white-collar workers - engineers, programmers, operators of robotic complexes. Wars and revolutions reshaped the social structure of society, raising some to the top of the pyramid and lowering others. Similar changes took place in Russian society after the October Revolution of 1917. They are still taking place today, when the business elite is replacing the party elite.
Between ascent and descent there is a certain asymmetry, everyone wants to go up and no one wants to go down the social ladder. Usually, ascent - phenomenon voluntary a descent is compulsory.
Research shows that those with higher status prefer high positions for themselves and their children, but those with lower status want the same for themselves and their children. And so it turns out in human society: everyone is striving upward and no one is downward.
In this chapter, we will look at essence, causes, typology, mechanisms, channels of social mobility, as well as factors affecting her.
mobility classification.
Exist two main types social mobility - intergenerational and intragenerational and two main types - vertical and horizontal. They, in turn, break down into subspecies and subtypes „which are closely related to each other.
Intergenerational mobility assumes that children achieve a higher social position or fall to a lower level than their parents. Example: A miner's son becomes an engineer.
Intragenerational mobility takes place where the same individual, beyond comparison with the father, changes social positions several times throughout his life. Otherwise it is called social career. Example: a turner becomes an engineer, and then a shop manager, plant director, minister of the engineering industry.
The first type of mobility refers to long-term and second - to short-term processes. In the first case, sociologists are more interested in interclass mobility, and in the second - the movement from the sphere of physical labor to the sphere of mental labor.
Vertical mobility implies a movement from one stratum (estate, class, caste) to another.
Depending on the direction of movement, there are upward mobility(social rise, upward movement) and downward mobility(social descent, downward movement).
Promotion is an example of upward mobility, dismissal, demolition is an example of downward mobility.
Horizontal mobility implies the transition of an individual from one social group to another, located at the same level.
An example is the movement from an Orthodox to a Catholic religious group, from one citizenship to another, from one family (parental) to another (one's own, newly formed), from one profession to another. Such movements occur without a noticeable change in social position in the vertical direction.
A form of horizontal mobility is geographical mobility. It does not imply a change in status or group, but a movement from one place to another while maintaining the same status.
An example is international and interregional tourism, moving from a city to a village and back, moving from one enterprise to another.
If a change of status is added to a change of place, then geographic mobility becomes migration.
If a villager comes to the city to visit relatives, then this is geographic mobility. If he moved to the city for permanent residence and found a job here, then this is migration. He changed his profession.
It is possible to classify social mobility according to other criteria. So, for example, they distinguish:
individual mobility, when moving down, up or horizontally occurs in each person independently of others, and
group mobility, when displacement occurs collectively, for example, after a social revolution, the old class cedes its dominant positions to the new class.
Individual mobility and group mobility are connected in a certain way with assigned and achieved status. Do you think individual mobility is more in line with assigned or achieved status? (Try to figure this out on your own first, and then read the chapter to the end.)
These are the main types, types and forms (there are no significant differences between these terms) of social mobility. In addition to them, sometimes allocate organized mobility, when the movement of a person or entire groups up, down or horizontally is controlled by the state a) with the consent of the people themselves, b) without their consent. to voluntary organized mobility should be attributed to the so-called socialist organization set, public appeals for Komsomol construction projects, etc. To involuntary organized mobility can be attributed repatriation(resettlement) of small peoples and dispossession during the years of Stalinism.
It is necessary to distinguish from organized mobility structural mobility. It is caused by changes in the structure of the national economy and occurs against the will and consciousness of individual individuals. For example, the disappearance or reduction of industries or professions leads to to movement of large masses of people. In the 50s - 70s in USSR small villages were reduced and enlarged.
The main and non-main types (types, forms) of mobility differ as follows.
Main types characterize all or most societies in any historical epoch. Of course, the intensity or volume of mobility is not the same everywhere.
Non-main species Mobility is inherent in some types of society and not in others. (Look for concrete examples in support of this thesis.
The main and non-main types (types, forms) of mobility exist in three main areas of society - economic, political, professional. Mobility practically does not occur (with rare exceptions) in the demographic sphere and is quite limited in the religious sphere. Indeed, it is impossible to migrate from a man to a woman, and the transition from childhood to adolescence does not apply to mobility. Voluntary and forced change of religion in human history occurred repeatedly. Suffice it to recall the baptism of Russia, the conversion of the Indians to the Christian faith after the discovery of America by Columbus. However, such events do not occur regularly. They are of interest to historians rather than sociologists.
Let us now turn to specific types and types of mobility.
GROUP MOBILITY
It occurs there and then, where and when the social significance of an entire class, estate, caste, rank, or category rises or falls. The October Revolution led to the rise of the Bolsheviks, who previously did not have a recognized high position. Brahmins became the highest caste as a result of a long and stubborn struggle, and earlier they were on an equal footing with the kshatriyas. In ancient Greece, after the adoption of the constitution, most people were freed from slavery and climbed the social ladder, and many of their former masters went down.
The transition of power from a hereditary aristocracy to a plutocracy (an aristocracy based on the principles of wealth) had the same consequences. In 212 AD almost the entire population of the Roman Empire received the status of Roman citizenship. Thanks to this, huge masses of people who were previously considered to be deprived of their rights have increased their social status. The invasion of the barbarians (Huns and Goths) disrupted the social stratification of the Roman Empire: one by one, the old aristocratic families disappeared, and they were replaced by new ones. Foreigners founded new dynasties and new nobility.
As P. Sorokin showed on a huge historical material, the following factors served as the reasons for group mobility:
social revolutions;
Foreign interventions, invasions;
Interstate wars;
Civil wars;
military coups;
Change of political regimes;
Replacing 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.
3.4. Individual mobility:
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Social mobility in the USA and the former USSR has both similar and distinctive features. The similarity is explained by the fact that both countries are industrialized powers, and the differences are explained by the peculiarity of the political regime of government. Thus, studies by American and Soviet sociologists, covering approximately the same period (70s), but carried out independently of each other, gave the same figures: up to 40% of employees in both the USA and Russia come from workers ; in both the US and Russia, more than two-thirds of the population is involved in social mobility.
Another regularity is also confirmed: social mobility in both countries is most influenced not by the profession and education of the father, but by the son's own achievements in education. The higher the education, the more chances to move up the social ladder.
In both the US and Russia, another curious fact has been discovered: a well-educated son of a worker has just as much chance of promotion as a poorly educated person from the middle classes, in particular employees. Although the second can help parents.
The peculiarity of the United States lies in the large flow of immigrants. Unskilled workers - immigrants arriving in the country from all parts of the world, occupy the lower rungs of the social ladder, displacing or hastening the advancement of Native Americans. Rural migration has the same effect, not only in the US, but also in Russia.
In both countries, upward mobility has so far averaged 20% more than downward mobility. But both types vertical mobility inferior to horizontal mobility in their own way. This means the following: in two countries, the level of mobility is high (up to 70-80% of the population), but 70% is horizontal mobility - movement within the boundaries of the same class and even layer (stratum).
Even in the USA, where, according to legend, every sweeper can become a millionaire, the conclusion made by P. Sorokin back in 1927 remains valid: most people start their working careers at the same social level as their parents, and only a very few manage to make significant progress. In other words, the average citizen moves one rung up or down in his life, rarely anyone manages to step several steps at once.
So, 10% of Americans, 7% of Japanese and Dutch, 9% of British, 2% of French, Germans and Danes, 1% of Italians rise from workers to the upper - middle class. To the factors of individual mobility, i.e. reasons that allow one person to achieve greater success than another, sociologists in both countries include:
the social status of the family;
level of education;
nationality;
physical and mental abilities, external data;
receiving education;
place of residence;
profitable marriage.
Mobile individuals begin socialization in one class and end in another. They are literally torn between dissimilar cultures and lifestyles. They do not know how to behave, dress, talk in terms of the standards of another class. Often adaptation to new conditions remains very superficial. A typical example is Moliere's tradesman in the nobility. (remember others literary characters, which would illustrate the superficial assimilation of manners when moving from one class, layer to another.)
In all industrialized countries, it is more difficult for women to move up than for men. Often they increase their social status only through a profitable marriage. Therefore, getting a job, women of this orientation choose those professions where it is most likely to find a "suitable man." What do you think these professions or places of work are? Give examples from life or literature when marriage acted as a "social lift" for women of humble origin.
During the Soviet period, our society was the most mobile society in the world along with America. A free education available to all strata offered everyone the same opportunities for advancement that existed only in the United States. Nowhere in the world did the elite of society literally form from all strata of society in a short time. At the end of this period, mobility slowed down, but increased again in the 1990s.
The most dynamic Soviet society was not only in terms of education and social mobility, but also in terms of industrial development. For many years, the USSR held the first place in terms of the pace of industrial progress. All these are signs of a modern industrial society that have made the USSR, as Western sociologists have written, one of the world's leading countries in terms of social mobility.
Structural mobility
Industrialization opens new vacancies in vertical mobility. The development of industry three centuries ago required the transformation of the peasantry into a proletariat. In the late stage of industrialization, the working class became the largest part of the employed population. The main factor of vertical mobility was the education system.
Industrialization is associated not only with interclass but also with intraclass changes. At the stage of conveyor or mass production at the beginning of the 20th century, unskilled and unskilled workers remained the predominant group. Mechanization and then automation required an expansion of the ranks of skilled and highly skilled workers. In the 1950s, 40% of workers in developed countries were poorly or unskilled. In 1966, 20% of such people remained.
As unskilled labor was reduced, the need for employees, managers, and businessmen grew. The sphere of industrial and agricultural labor narrowed, while the sphere of service and management expanded.
In an industrial society, the structure of the national economy determines mobility. In other words, professional
mobility in the USA, England, Russia or Japan does not depend on individual features people, but from the structural features of the economy, the relationship of industries and the shifts taking place here. Number of people employed in agriculture The USA decreased from 1900 to 1980 by 10 times. The small farmers became the respectable petty bourgeois class, and the agricultural laborers were added to the ranks of the working class. The stratum of professionals and managers doubled over that period. The number of trade workers and clerks increased by 4 times.
Such transformations are characteristic of modern societies: from farm to factory in the early stages of industrialization and from factory to office in the later stages. Today in developed countries, over 50% of the workforce is engaged in knowledge work, compared with 10-15% at the beginning of the century.
During this century, vacancies in industrialized countries declined in the working professions and expanded in the field of management. But managerial vacancies were filled not by representatives of the workers, but by the middle class. However, the number management professions grew faster than the number of children in the middle class who could fill them. The vacuum formed in the 1950s was partly filled by working youth. This was made possible by the availability of higher education for ordinary Americans.
In the developed capitalist countries, industrialization was completed earlier than in the former socialist countries. (USSR, GDR, Hungary, Bulgaria, etc.). The lag could not but affect the nature of social mobility: in the capitalist countries, the share of leaders and intelligentsia - who come from workers and peasants - is one-third, and in the former socialist countries - three-quarters. In countries such as England, which have long passed the stage of industrialization, the proportion of workers of peasant origin is very low, there are more so-called hereditary workers. On the contrary, in Eastern European countries this share is very high and sometimes reaches 50%.
It is due to structural mobility that the two opposite poles of the professional pyramid turned out to be the least mobile. In the former socialist countries, the most closed were the two layers - the layer of top managers and the layer of auxiliary workers located at the bottom of the pyramid - layers that fill the most prestigious and most prestigious sphere activities. (Try to answer the question "why?")
Social mobility is a situation in which a person or group of people changes their social status. In this case, a person can change his social stratum or remain in the same stratum and only the status will change.
Social status (or social position) is the position in society, in society, occupied by a person (individual) or a group of individuals.
Social stratum - the division of people into classes or groups. The process of dividing society into layers or strata (lat. stratum - layer, layer) is called social stratification.
Types of social mobility
Vertical and horizontal
With a vertical one, a person changes his social stratum. Vertical mobility is divided into:
- individual (the status changes in an individual);
- group (the status changes in a group of people);
- professional (a person changes his position at work - with an increase or decrease);
- economic (a person's level of well-being changes);
- political (when a person is promoted by public service, i.e., his level of power changes);
- ascending (raising the social level);
- descending (lowering the social level);
- immobility (social status and position remain unchanged);
- intergenerational (children have a different social status than their parents);
- intragenerational (affects one person, his status changes throughout his life).
With horizontal mobility, there is no change in the social stratum, a person changes only his social group. An example would be a situation where a person changes their place of residence, i.e. moves to another district or city. Or when he changes jobs. Social status does not change. In this case, we are talking about geographic mobility.
If a person moves and, in addition, his social status changes, this situation is called geographic migration.
Elevators of social mobility
Russian and American sociologist and culturologist Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin spoke about "elevators", "ladders" or "paths" by which people move and change their social status and (or) social stratum. Sorokin identified 7 main such paths:
- army (especially war time when a successful military operation can lift a person up the social ladder, and vice versa, a loss can cause a loss of a social position);
- the church (there are cases in history when a low-class person became the pope of the Roman Catholic Church);
- schools (in some countries, schools allowed promising children from poor families to reach great heights (for example, China), in others, people from the lower strata were not allowed to receive an education (for example, India, England));
- political organizations/parties/groups (movement within a political organization or between different organizations as an example career development and changes social status);
- professional organizations/associations (for example, associations medical workers, literary organizations, associations of musicians, scientists, lawyers, etc. The media have a special influence, which can quickly advance a person or just as quickly harm his social status);
- organizations to create material assets(in other words, groups of people who achieved success or moved up the social ladder due to the fact that they accumulated capital: gold, money and other valuables. Titles, titles, privileges were bought with the help of this capital);
- family and marriage (for example, marriage to a person from a higher social stratum will open access to this stratum, from a lower one - it can lead to a loss of social status).
Social mobility and education
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, social mobility children depends on the education and profession of their parents. As a rule, if the family has a low level of education, then the child most likely will not receive higher education.
If parents are busy physical labor, then the likelihood that the child will take a managerial position is small.
What influences social mobility?
Among the factors that influence social mobility, i.e. the number of movements between social strata or the frequency of changes in social status, the following main ones can be distinguished:
- economic;
- historical;
- demographic;
- migratory;
- place of residence;
- nationality;
- the level of education;
- abilities and personal qualities individual (physical and mental).
Economic factor
The economic situation in the country directly affects the availability of jobs and professions in demand. If the economy requires, for example, highly qualified specialists, then this will lead to the fact that people will seek to take vacant positions. Social mobility will become more active.
historical factor
Historical events such as wars, revolutions have a direct impact on mobility. At such a time, some people quickly climbed the social ladder, receiving great power in their hands or great wealth. That is, there was political and economic mobility. Others have lost their status. The most well-born nobles were deprived of their savings and privileges.
Mobility also depends on the type of society historically present in a given country. There are three types of society: closed, open and intermediate.
In a closed society, as a rule, the status is assigned to a person at birth and its change is extremely difficult or impossible. In the open - people actively move between social strata and change their status throughout their lives.
An example of an intermediate type is the feudal society, in which transfers between classes or estates were not officially allowed, but they did occur.
Demographic factor
Population growth affects social mobility. If a country's population increases, then so does mobility. Because young people are more willing to change their social stratum or status.
Adults are more likely to be economically mobile. Having accumulated money, they seek to change the conditions of their lives in better side: move to a better area (geographical mobility) or take high position(professional mobility).
It is a fact that the lower classes have higher birth rates. If there is a shortage of people in the upper strata, then their places are taken by people who have climbed the social ladder, and not born representatives of this class.
migratory
In countries with high rates of migration, as a rule, active social mobility. Migrants compete with local residents. cheap work force creates an overabundance of workers, which forces local residents to create competitive advantages and move up the social ladder.
Place of residence
Cities have more opportunities for advancement career ladder to change their financial situation. Young people tend to move to big cities in search of such opportunities. In this case, one can also speak of intergenerational mobility, when children achieve a higher status compared to the status of their parents.
Nationality
Even in a multinational state, preference is given to precisely that nation, the number of which prevails in this state. People of this nationality are more likely to occupy high positions and are promoted.
The level of education
The level of education may be competitive advantage regardless of the layer in which a person was born. People with more high level education are more likely to advance. At the same time, they can also create competition for people from the upper strata who have not paid due attention to their education, relying on their privileges or connections to get a job, position, title.
The general concept of social mobility is associated with a change in the status of an individual or a certain social group, after which he changes his current position and place in the social structure, he has other roles, and characteristics in stratification change. The social system is complex in its multi-level nature. Stratification describes the rank structure, patterns and features of existence in development, hence the division of this movement into types of social mobility.
Status
A person who once received this or that status does not remain its bearer until the end of his life. A child, for example, grows up, taking on a different set of statuses associated with growing up. So society is constantly in motion, developing, changing the social structure, losing some people and gaining others, but certain social roles are still played, since status positions remain filled. Any transition of an individual or object, created or modified by human activity, to another position, to which the channels of social mobility have led, falls under this definition.
Main elements social structure- individuals - are also in constant motion. To describe the movement of an individual in social structure, such a concept as "social mobility of society" is used. This theory appeared in sociological science in 1927, its author was Pitirim Sorokin, who described the factors of social mobility. The process under consideration causes a constant redistribution within the boundaries of the social structure of individual individuals in accordance with the existing principles of social differentiation.
social system
In a single social system, there are many subsystems that have a clearly fixed or traditionally fixed set of requirements for all individuals seeking to acquire a particular status. The one who meets all these requirements to the greatest extent always succeeds. Examples of social mobility can be found literally at every turn. Thus, the university is a powerful social subsystem.
Students studying there must learn curriculum, and during the session there will be a check on how effectively the development was carried out. Naturally, those individuals who do not satisfy the examiners in terms of the minimum level of knowledge will not be able to continue their education. On the other hand, those who have mastered the material better than the rest receive additional channels of social mobility, that is, the chances to effectively use education - in graduate school, in science, in employment. And this rule applies always and everywhere: the execution social role changes the situation in society for the better.
Types of social mobility. The current state of affairs
Modern sociology subdivides the types and types of social mobility, designed to most fully describe the entire gamut of social movements. First of all, it is necessary to say about two types - vertical and horizontal mobility. If the transition from one social position to another has taken place, but the level has not changed, this is horizontal social mobility. This may be a change of confession or place of residence. Examples of horizontal social mobility are the most numerous.
If, however, with the transition to another social position, the level of social stratification changes, that is, the social status becomes better or worse, then this movement belongs to the second type. Vertical social mobility, in turn, is divided into two subtypes: upward and downward. The stratification ladder of a social system, like any other ladder, implies movement both up and down.
Examples of vertical social mobility: upwards - status improvement (another military rank, receiving a diploma, etc.), downwards - deterioration (loss of a job, expulsion from a university, etc.), that is, something that implies an increase or decrease opportunities for further movement and social growth.
Individual and group
In addition, vertical social mobility can be group and individual. The latter occurs when an individual member of society changes his social position, when the old status niche (stratum) is abandoned and a new state is found. The level of education, social origin, mental and physical abilities, place of residence, external data, specific actions play a role here - a profitable marriage, for example, a criminal offense or a manifestation of heroism.
Group mobility most often occurs when the stratification system of this society changes, when the social significance of even the largest social groups is subject to change. Such types of social mobility are sanctioned by the state or are the result of targeted policies. Here we can distinguish organized mobility (and the consent of people does not matter - recruitment into construction teams or volunteers, the economic crisis, the reduction of rights and freedoms in certain sectors of society, the resettlement of peoples or ethnic groups, etc.)
Structure
Structural mobility is also of great importance in defining the concept. The social system undergoes structural changes, which is not so rare. Industrialization, for example, which usually requires cheap labor, which restructures the entire social structure in order to recruit this labor force.
Horizontal and vertical social activity can occur in a group order simultaneously with a change in the political regime or state system, economic collapse or takeoff, with any social revolution, with foreign occupation, invasion, with any military conflicts - both civil and interstate.
Within a generation
The science of sociology distinguishes between intragenerational and intergenerational social mobility. This is best seen with examples. Intra-generational, that is, intra-generational social mobility implies shifts in the status distribution in a certain age group, in a generation, it tracks the general dynamics of the distribution of this group within the social system.
For example, monitoring is carried out regarding the possibilities of obtaining higher education, free medical care and many other relevant social processes. Recognizing the most common features social movement in a given generation, it is already possible to assess the social development of an individual from this age group with a degree of objectivity. The whole journey of man social development a life-long one can be called a social career.
Intergenerational mobility
An analysis is made of changes in social status in groups of different generations, which makes it possible to see the patterns of long-term processes in society, to establish the characteristic factors of social mobility in the implementation of a social career, considering various social groups and communities.
For example, which segments of the population are subject to more upward social mobility, and which to downward, can be found out through extensive monitoring, which will answer such questions and thus reveal ways to stimulate specific social groups. Many other factors are determined in the same way: the characteristics of a given social environment, whether or not there is a desire for social growth, etc.
Game by the rules
In a stable social structure, the movement of individuals occurs according to plans and rules. When unstable social system shattered, disorganized, spontaneous, chaotic. In any case, in order to change the status, the individual must enlist the support of the social environment.
If an applicant wants to enter Moscow State University, MGIMO or MEPhI, in order to acquire student status, in addition to the desire, he must have a whole range of certain personal qualities and meet the requirements for all students of these data educational institutions. That is, the applicant must confirm his compliance, for example, with entrance examinations or financial independence. If it matches, it will get the desired status.
Social institutions
Modern society is a complex and highly institutionalized structure. Most social movements are associated with certain social institutions, many statuses outside the framework of specific institutions do not matter at all. For example, apart from education, the statuses of a teacher and a student do not exist, and outside the institute of health care there are no statuses of a patient and a doctor. This means that it is social institutions that create the social space where the largest part of the status changes take place. These spaces (channels of social mobility) are structures, ways, mechanisms used for status movement.
Main driving force- organs state power, political parties, economic structures, public organizations, church, army, professional and labor unions and organizations, family and clan ties, education system. In turn, for a given period of time, the social structure is significantly influenced by organized crime, which has its own mobile system that also influences official institutions through, for example, corruption.
Aggregate of Influence
Channels of social mobility - an integral system that complements, limits, stabilizes all components of the social structure, in which the institutional and legal procedures for the movement of each individual represent elementary social selection, where not only a long and close acquaintance with certain rules and traditions takes place, but also confirmation by the individual their loyalty, obtaining the approval of the dominant persons.
Here one can still talk a lot about the formal necessity of conformity and subjectivity of the assessment of all the efforts of the individual on the part of those on whom the social transfer of the individual's status directly depends.
Vertical social mobility is a change by the subject (individual, or group) of his social status, in which there is an increase in the level of income, education, prestige and power. We talked in more detail about social mobility in the course "Social science: USE for 100 points" .
Examples of vertical social mobility
There have always been people in society who made a career very quickly, or became multimillionaires. How did they do it? Is vertical social mobility only related to income?
Here is a kind of hit parade of such people.
Natalya Kasperskaya - born in 1966, co-founder of the Kaspersky Lab campaign.
Natalya began her life's journey like all Soviet guys: from entering the institute. She graduated from the Moscow Institute of Electronic Engineering with a degree in Applied Mathematics. Became a salesperson in 1993 software. Then - a manager in the same company. Then she put pressure on her husband - Evgeny Kaspersky - to open her own company - Kaspersky Lab.
She became a co-founder. However, its share was not specified in the company's charter documents. As a result, in 2011, she divorced her husband and resigned as chairman of the board of directors of Kaspersky Lab. Natalya devoted all her time to her company InfoWatch. The company is today a leader in corporate protection information.
Well, for example, do you not like that your employees are working time use their mail, not corporate. Who knows, maybe they leak information to a competitor? This is where you will need InfoWatch services to ensure the information security of your company.
Thus, Natalia Kasperskayacmade dizzying vertical social mobility in all four dimensions: income (wealth $ 230 million), power (manages his company), prestige (recognized world-class expert in the field of information security), education (higher specialist in mathematics, bachelor in business ).
Pavel Durov - founder of the social network "Vkontakte"
Probably every young programmer wants to change the world beyond recognition - to hack normality. Pavel Durov did it! By the way, read on.
Pavel was born on October 10, 1984 in Leningrad in the family of a Doctor of Philology. I have been programming since the age of 11. That is, his father could afford to give his son a computer to use.
After school, Pavel began to study at the Faculty of Philology, while studying at the Military Faculty with a degree in Psychological Warfare. At the same time he studied at the military department. During his studies, Pavel several times became a scholarship holder of the Presidential and Potanin scholarships.
In the course of his studies, he created several projects to make life easier for students: a project on abstracts, etc. One day, an acquaintance of his came from an internship in the USA and told Pasha about facebook.
The idea has been reworked for Russian realities and in 2006, Student.ru was launched in test mode, which was then renamed Vkontakte. In 2007, 2 million people used the new social network. Offers to buy the Durov project immediately rained down. But all offers were rejected. Only in 2008 Pavel began to monetize the resource. Then there were already 20 million users.
Soon, the personal fortune of Pavel Durov was estimated by Forbes magazine at 7.9 billion rubles (approx. 263 million dollars). In 2012, pressure began from the authorities on the social network Vkontakte because of the Navalny case. As a result, his share of the shares (12%), the founder social network sold to his friend, and the multimillionaire Pavel Durov left for the USA. They say that he has now returned and lives in Russia.
Although hardly. Now Paul is developing his new project Telegram, where you can exchange messages absolutely free, and files [attention!], up to 1 gigabyte. Moreover, the messages are encrypted and, according to Durov, no one can decrypt them, even the developers themselves. By the way, in 2015 it became known that terrorists might use this service. To such attacks on his project, Pavel said that the terrorists would find where to communicate.
Thus, Pavel Durov made a stunning vertical social mobility in all parameters at once: income (increased billions of times), prestige (a cult person in Runet and not only), power (power on the accounts of 70 million users), education (St. Petersburg State University graduated with a red diploma, I still haven’t taken a diploma from the university).
Now there are a lot of opinions on the Web about whether Durov stole the idea of Facebook or not. Personally, my position is that of course there are similar elements in the navigation. But personally, I mostly sit in VKontakte. Facebook is complicated, incomprehensible, the constant emails in my inbox are killing me (“Hi, you have a new message”, “Hi, we miss you”, “You have a new notification”). It infuriates me. And you?
Tatyana Bakalchuk is an example of vertical social mobility
Tatyana was an ordinary teacher of English language. In 2004, in connection with the birth of a child, she realized that there was simply not enough money for life. She came up with the idea of reselling German clothes at a premium. At first, she and her husband simply ordered clothes from the German Otto and Quelle catalogs, and then resold them at a premium. At first they were acquaintances.
In Soviet terms, Tatyana became a speculator. But today, where not a plus - only speculators. Therefore, we will call Tatyana not a speculator, but a completely original bisneswoomen. Then, apparently, she persuaded her husband to invest in the creation of his own small online German clothing store.
Today, her Wildberries store has a revenue of 7 billion rubles. Forbes magazine estimates Tatyana's fortune at about $330 million.
Thus, Tatyana Bakalchuk, in terms of the nature and speed of social mobility, has become on a par with Pavel Durov: she has a higher education (an English teacher), has extremely high capital by Russian standards, has power over her own brand and an online clothing store where millions buy things. visitors, of course, has a high prestige, as it is included in the lists of the magazineForbes.
To be continued…... subscribe so you don't miss the sequel!
Social mobility types and examples
The concept of social mobility
The concept of "social mobility" was introduced into scientific use by Pitirim Sorokin. These are various movements of people in society. Each person at birth occupies a certain position and is built into the system of stratification of society.
An individual's position at birth is not fixed, and it may change throughout the course of life. It can go up or down.
Types of social mobility
There are various types of social mobility. Usually there are:
- intergenerational and intragenerational;
- vertical and horizontal;
- organized and structured.
Intergenerational mobility means that children change their social position and become different from their parents. So, for example, the daughter of a seamstress becomes a teacher, that is, she raises her status in society. Or, for example, the son of an engineer becomes a janitor, that is, his social status goes down.
Intragenerational mobility means that the status of an individual can change throughout his life. An ordinary worker can become a manager at an enterprise, a director of a factory, and then a head of a complex of enterprises.
Vertical mobility means that the movement of a person or group of people within society changes the social status of this person or group. This kind of mobility is stimulated by various systems rewards (respect, income, prestige, benefits). Vertical mobility has different characteristics. one of them is intensity, that is, it determines how many strata an individual passes on his way up.
If the society is socially disorganized, then the intensity indicator becomes higher. Such an indicator as universality determines the number of people who have changed their position vertically in a certain period of time. Depending on the type of vertical mobility, two types of society are distinguished. It is closed and open.
In a closed society, moving up the social ladder is very difficult for certain categories of people. For example, these are societies in which there are castes, estates, and also a society in which there are slaves. There were many such communities in the Middle Ages.
In an open society equal opportunity everyone has. These societies include democratic states. Pitirim Sorokin argues that there are no and never have been societies in which the possibilities for vertical mobility would be absolutely closed. At the same time, there have never been communities in which vertical movements would be absolutely free. Vertical mobility can be either upward (in which case it is voluntary) or downward (in which case it is forced).
Horizontal mobility assumes that an individual moves from one group to another without changing social status. For example, it could be a change in religion. That is, an individual can convert from Orthodoxy to Catholicism. He can also change citizenship, can create his own family and leave his parent, can change his profession. At the same time, the status of the individual does not change. If there is a move from one country to another, then such mobility is called geographical. Migration is a type of geographic mobility in which the status of an individual changes after moving. Migration can be labor and political, internal and international, legal and illegal.
Organized mobility It is a state dependent process. It directs the movement of groups of people down, up or in a horizontal direction. This can happen both with the consent of these people, and without it.
Structural mobility caused by changes that occur in the structure of society. Social mobility can be group and individual. Group mobility implies that whole groups move. Group mobility is influenced by the following factors:
- uprisings;
- wars;
- replacement of the constitution;
- the invasion of foreign troops;
- change in the political regime.
- Individual social mobility depends on such factors:
- the level of education of the citizen;
- nationality;
- place of residence;
- the quality of education;
- the status of his family;
- whether the citizen is married.
- Of great importance for any kind of mobility are age, sex, birth and death rates.
Social mobility examples
Examples of social mobility can be found in our lives in large numbers. So, Pavel Durov, who was originally a simple student of the Faculty of Philology, can be considered a model for increasing growth in society. But in 2006, he was told about Facebook, and then he decided that he would create a similar network in Russia. At first, it was called "Student.ru", but then it was called Vkontakte. Now it has more than 70 million users, and Pavel Durov owns a fortune of more than $ 260 million.
Social mobility often develops within subsystems. So, schools and universities are such subsystems. A student at a university must master the curriculum. If he successfully passes the exams, he will move on to the next course, receive a diploma, become a specialist, that is, he will receive a higher position. Expulsion from a university for poor performance is an example of downward social mobility.
An example of social mobility is the following situation: a person who received an inheritance, got rich, and moved to a more prosperous layer of people. Examples of social mobility include the promotion of a school teacher to a director, the promotion of an associate professor of a department to a professor, the relocation of an employee of an enterprise to another city.
Vertical social mobility
Vertical mobility has been the subject of the most research. The defining concept is the mobility distance. It measures how many steps an individual goes through as he advances in society. He can walk one or two steps, he can suddenly fly up to the very top of the stairs or fall to its base (the last two options are quite rare). The amount of mobility is important. It determines how many individuals have moved up or down with the help of vertical mobility in a certain period of time.
Channels of social mobility
There are no absolute boundaries between social strata in society. Representatives of some layers can make their way into other layers. Movement occurs with the help of social institutions. In wartime, the army acts as a social institution, which elevates talented soldiers and gives them new ranks in the event that the former commanders have died. Another powerful channel of social mobility is the church, which at all times has found loyal representatives in the lower classes of society and elevated them.
Also, the institution of education, as well as family and marriage, can be considered channels of social mobility. If representatives of different social strata entered into marriage, then one of them went up the social ladder, or went down. For example, in ancient Roman society, a free man who married a slave could make her free. In the process of creating new strata of society - strata - groups of people appear who do not have generally accepted statuses, or have lost them. They are called marginals. Such people are characterized by the fact that it is difficult and uncomfortable for them in their current status, they experience psychological stress. For example, this is an employee of an enterprise who became homeless and lost his home.
There are such types of marginals:
- ethnomarginals - people who appeared as a result of mixed marriages;
- biomarginals, whose health society has ceased to care about;
- political outcasts who cannot come to terms with the existing political order;
- religious outcasts - people who do not consider themselves to be a generally accepted confession;
- criminal outcasts - people who violate the Criminal Code.
Social mobility in society
Social mobility may differ depending on the type of society. If we consider Soviet society, it was divided into economic classes. These were the nomenklatura, the bureaucracy and the proletariat. The mechanisms of social mobility were then regulated by the state. Employees of regional organizations were often appointed by party committees. The rapid movement of people took place with the help of repressions and the construction of communism (for example, BAM and virgin lands). Western societies have a different structure of social mobility.
The main mechanism of social movement there is competition. Because of it, some go bankrupt, while others receive high profits. If this is a political sphere, then the main mechanism of movement there is elections. In any society there are mechanisms that make it possible to mitigate the sharp downward transition of individuals and groups. These are different forms. social assistance. On the other hand, representatives of the higher strata strive to consolidate their high status and prevent representatives of the lower strata from penetrating into the higher strata. In many ways, social mobility depends on what kind of society. It can be open and closed.
An open society is characterized by the fact that the division into social classes is conditional, and it is quite easy to move from one class to another. In order to reach a higher position in the social hierarchy, a person needs to fight. People have a motivation to constantly work because hard work leads to an increase in their social status and improved well-being. Therefore, people of the lower class strive to constantly break through to the top, and representatives of the upper class want to maintain their position. Unlike open, closed social society has very clear boundaries between classes.
The social structure of society is such that the promotion of people between classes is almost impossible. In such a system, hard work does not matter, and the talents of a member of the lower caste do not matter either. Such a system is supported by an authoritarian ruling structure. If the rule weakens, then it becomes possible to change the boundaries between the strata. The most outstanding example of a closed caste society can be considered India, in which the Brahmins, the highest caste, have the highest status. The lowest caste are the sudras, the garbage collectors. Over time, the absence of significant changes in society leads to the degeneration of this society.
Social stratification and mobility
Social stratification divides people into classes. The following classes began to appear in post-Soviet society: new Russians, entrepreneurs, workers, peasants, and the ruling stratum. Social strata in all societies have common features. Thus, people of mental labor occupy a higher position than just workers and peasants. As a rule, there are no impenetrable boundaries between strata, while the complete absence of boundaries is impossible.
Recently, social stratification in Western society has been undergoing significant changes due to the invasion of Western countries by representatives of Eastern world(Arabs). Initially, they come as a labor force, that is, they perform low-skilled work. But these representatives bring their culture and their customs, often different from Western ones. Often, entire neighborhoods in the cities of Western countries live according to the laws of Islamic culture.
It must be said that social mobility in conditions of social crisis differs from social mobility in conditions of stability. War, revolution, prolonged economic conflicts lead to changes in the channels of social mobility, often to mass impoverishment and an increase in morbidity. Under these conditions, stratification processes can differ significantly. So, representatives of criminal structures can make their way into the ruling circles.
