Individual and collective social mobility. Social mobility

Horizontal mobility is the transition of an individual or social object from one social position to another, lying at the same level. In all these cases, the individual does not change the social stratum to which he belongs or his social status. Examples horizontal mobility may serve as transfers from one citizenship to another, from an Orthodox religious group to a Catholic one, from one labor collective to another, etc.

Such movements occur without a noticeable change in social position in the upright position.

A type of horizontal mobility is geographic mobility. It does not imply a change in status or group, but a movement from one place to another while maintaining the same status.

If a change of location is added to a change of status, then geographic mobility turns into migration. If a villager came to the city to visit relatives, then this is geographical mobility. If he moved to a permanent place of residence and got a job, then this is migration.

Consequently, horizontal mobility can be territorial, religious, professional, political (when only the political orientation of the individual changes). Horizontal mobility is described by nominal parameters and can only exist with a certain degree of heterogeneity in society.

P. Sorokin only says about horizontal mobility that it means the transition of people from one social group to another without changing their social status. But if we proceed from the principle that all differences in the world of people, without exception, have some kind of unequal significance, it will be necessary to recognize that horizontal social mobility should also be characterized by a change in social position, only not ascending or descending, but progressive or retreating (regressive) . Thus, horizontal mobility can be considered any process that leads to the formation or change of class social structures - in contrast to the starting ones, which are formed and changed as a result of vertical social mobility.

Today in society, especially among residents major cities It is horizontal mobility that is gaining momentum. It becomes a rule for young people to change jobs every 3-5 years. At the same time, most sociologists welcome this, believing that this approach allows a person not to be “conserved” in one place and an unchanged range of tasks. Secondly, a considerable part of workers prefer to master related specialties or even radically change their field of activity.

A change of place of residence - and this is also a type of horizontal mobility - often complements a change of place of work, even if the new job is located in the same city - there are people who prefer to rent an apartment closer to them rather than spend two and a half hours a day on the road.

The meaning of vertical mobility is completely transparent - many people want to improve their situation. A much more interesting question is what drives horizontal social mobility.

First of all, it becomes noticeable that in last years the so-called social elevators stop working: that is, the number of opportunities to jump to a higher social level in one fell swoop decreases. Isolated cases are possible, but for most this move is closed. And horizontal mobility is, in principle, available to almost everyone.

Horizontal mobility allows you to significantly expand your horizons; it does not force you to significantly change your habits or lifestyle.

The essence of social mobility

We have already noted the complexity and multi-level nature of the social system. Theory social stratification(see the previous section “Social stratification”) is intended to describe the ranking structure of society, its main features and patterns of existence and development, and the socially significant functions it performs. However, it is obvious that, having once received a status, a person does not always remain the bearer of this status throughout his life. For example, the status of a child, sooner or later, is lost, and is replaced by a whole set of statuses associated with the adult state.
Society is in constant motion and development. The social structure is changing, people are changing, fulfilling certain social roles and occupying certain status positions. Accordingly, individuals as the main elements of the social structure of society are in constant motion. To describe this movement of an individual through the social structure of society, there is a theory of social mobility. Its author is Pitirim Sorokin, who in 1927 introduced the concept into sociological science social mobility.

In the most general sense, under social mobility is understood as a change in the status of an individual or a social group, as a result of which he (she) changes his position in the social structure, acquires new role sets, and changes his characteristics on the main scales of stratification. P. Sorokin himself determined social mobility like any transition of an individual or a social object (value), that is, everything that is created or modified human activity, from one social position to another.

In the process of social mobility, there is a constant redistribution of individuals within the social structure in accordance with the principles of social differentiation existing in this system. That is, one or another social subsystem always has a fixed or traditional set of requirements that are presented to those wishing to become actors in this subsystem. Accordingly, ideally, those who best meet these requirements will succeed most.

For example, studying at a university requires young people and girls to master the curriculum, and the main criterion is the effectiveness of this mastery, which is checked during test and examination sessions. Anyone who does not meet the minimum level of knowledge requirements loses the opportunity to continue learning. Those who master the material more successfully than others increase their chances of efficient use received education (admission to graduate school, joining scientific activity, highly paid job in the specialty). Conscientious fulfillment of one's social role contributes to a change for the better in one's social situation. Thus, the social system stimulates the types of individual and collective activities it desires.

Typology of social mobility

Within the framework of modern sociology, several types and types of social mobility are distinguished, which are designed to make it possible to fully describe the entire gamut of social movements. First of all, there are two types of social mobility - horizontal mobility and vertical mobility.
Horizontal mobility - this is a transition from one social position to another, but located at the same social level. For example, a change of place of residence, a change of religion (in religiously tolerant social systems).

Vertical mobility - this is a transition from one social position to another with a change in the level of social stratification. That is, with vertical mobility, social status improves or deteriorates. In this regard, two subtypes of vertical mobility are distinguished:
a) upward mobility- moving up the stratification ladder of the social system, that is, improving one’s status (for example, becoming a military another rank, the student’s transition to senior year or receipt of a university diploma);
b) downward mobility- moving down the stratification ladder of the social system, that is, deterioration of one’s status (for example, cutting wages, entailing a change of stratum, expulsion from the university for poor academic performance, which entails a significant narrowing of opportunities for further social growth).

Vertical mobility can be individual or group.

Individual mobility occurs when individual member society changes its social position. He leaves his old status niche or stratum and moves into a new state. To factors individual mobility sociologists include social origin, level of education, physical and mental abilities, external data, place of residence, advantageous marriage, specific actions, which can often negate the effect of all previous factors (for example, criminal offense, heroic deed).

Group mobility It is especially often observed in conditions of changes in the very system of stratification of a given society, when the social significance of large social groups changes.

You can also highlight organized mobility, when the movement of an individual or entire groups up, down, or horizontally in the social structure is sanctioned by the state or is a deliberate government policy. Moreover, this kind of action can be carried out both with the consent of the people (voluntary recruitment of construction teams) and without it (reduction of rights and freedoms, resettlement of ethnic groups).

In addition, it is of great importance structural mobility. It is caused by structural changes in the entire social system. For example, industrialization led to a significant increase in the need for cheap labor, which, in turn, led to a significant restructuring of the entire social structure, which made it possible to recruit this very labor. Reasons that can cause structural mobility include a change in economic structure, social revolutions, a change in government or political regime, foreign occupation, invasions, interstate and civil military conflicts.

Finally, in sociology they distinguish intragenerational (intrageneration) And intergenerational (intergenerational) social mobility. Intragenerational mobility describes changes in status distribution within a certain age group, “generation,” which makes it possible to track the overall dynamics of the inclusion or distribution of this group in social system. For example, information about what part of modern Ukrainian youth is studying or has been trained at universities, and what part would like to undergo training can be very important. Such information allows monitoring of many current social processes. Knowing general features social mobility in a given generation, one can objectively assess the social development of a particular individual or small group included in this generation. Path social development which an individual goes through during his life is called social career.

Intergenerational mobility characterizes changes in social distribution in groups of different generations. Such an analysis makes it possible to monitor long-term social processes and establish patterns of social career implementation in various social groups and communities. For example, which social strata are most or least susceptible to upward or downward mobility? An objective answer to such a question allows us to reveal methods of social stimulation in individual social groups, features social environment, determining the desire (or lack thereof) for social growth.

Social mobility channels

How does it happen within the framework of the stable social structure of society? social mobility, that is, the movement of individuals through this very social structure? It is obvious that such movement within the framework of a complexly organized system cannot occur spontaneously, unorganized, or chaotically. Unorganized, spontaneous movements are possible only during periods of social instability, when the social structure is shaken, loses stability, and collapses. In a stable social structure, significant movements of individuals occur in strict accordance with a developed system of rules for such movements (stratification system). To change his status, an individual most often must not only have the desire to do so, but also receive approval from the social environment. Only in this case is a real change in status possible, which will mean a change in the individual’s position within the social structure of society. So, if a boy or girl decides to become students of a certain university (acquire student status), then their desire will be only the first step towards the status of a student of this university. Obviously, in addition to personal aspiration, it is also important that the applicant meets the requirements that apply to everyone who has expressed a desire to undergo training in this specialty. Only after confirmation of such compliance (for example, during entrance exams) does the applicant achieve the assignment of the desired status - the applicant becomes a student.
In modern society, the social structure of which is very complex and institutionalized, most social movements are associated with certain social institutions. That is, most statuses exist and have meaning only within the framework of specific social institutions. The status of a student or teacher cannot exist in isolation from the institution of education; statuses of a doctor or a patient - in isolation from the health care institute; Candidate or Doctor of Science statuses are outside the Institute of Science. This gives rise to the idea of ​​social institutions as unique social spaces within which most changes in status occur. Such spaces are called channels of social mobility.
In a strict sense, under channel of social mobility understands such social structures, mechanisms, methods that can be used to implement social mobility. As mentioned above, in modern society, social institutions most often act as such channels. The bodies of political power, political parties, public organizations, economic structures, professional labor organizations and unions, army, church, education system, family and clan ties. Great importance Today there are also organized crime structures that have their own system of mobility, but often have a strong influence on the “official” channels of mobility (for example, corruption).

Taken together, the channels of social mobility act as an integral system, complementing, limiting, and stabilizing each other’s activities. As a result, we can talk about a universal system of institutional and legal procedures for the movement of individuals along a stratification structure, which represents complex mechanism social selection. In the case of any attempt by an individual to improve his social position, that is, to increase his social status, he will be, to one degree or another, “tested” for compliance with the requirements for a bearer of this status. Such a “test” can be formal (exam, testing), semi-formal ( probation, interview) and informal (the decision is made solely due to the personal inclinations of the test takers, but based on their ideas about the desirable qualities of the test subject) procedures.
For example, to enter a university you must pass entrance exams. But in order to be accepted into new family, you need to go through a long process of getting to know each other existing rules, traditions, confirm your loyalty to them, gain the approval of the leading members of this family. It is obvious that in each specific case there is both a formal need to meet certain requirements (level of knowledge, special training, physical data), and a subjective assessment of the individual’s efforts on the part of the examiners. Depending on the situation higher value has either a first or a second component.

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Horizontal mobility implies the transition of an individual from one social group to another, located at the same level.

Horizontal mobility implies the transition of an individual from one social group to another located at the same level.

Horizontal mobility means the transition of a person from one social group to another, which is generally at the same level of social stratification, say, when a rural resident becomes urban, but his profession and income level remain the same. Vertical mobility is the transition of people from one social stratum to another in a hierarchical order, for example, from a lower stratum of society to a higher one, or vice versa - from a higher stratum to a lower one.

A type of horizontal mobility is geographic 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 city to village and back, moving from one enterprise to another.

High and low fertility in different classes creates the same effect on vertical mobility that population density in different countries. Strata, like countries, can be overpopulated or underpopulated.

Sorokin distinguishes two types of social mobility: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal mobility is the transition of an individual or social object from one social position to another, lying at the same level, for example, the transition of an individual from one family to another, from one religious group to another, as well as a change of place of residence. In all these cases, the individual does not change the social stratum to which he belongs or his social status. But the most important process is vertical mobility, which is a set of interactions that contribute to the transition of an individual or social object from one social stratum to another.

SOCIAL MOBILITY - movement of people from one social strata to another under the influence of various objective and subjective factors; The theory of social mobility reflecting these processes points to horizontal and vertical mobility. Horizontal mobility means the transition of people from one social group to another, which are, so to speak, at the same level of the social structure of society. For example, when a rural resident becomes urban, but his profession and income level remain the same. Vertical mobility is the social movement of people in a hierarchical order, for example, from a lower stratum to a higher one in terms of social status and wages, or back - from a higher stratum to a lower one. The theory of social mobility is based on the works of P. A. Sorokin, widely used in Western sociology, primarily American.

The social space of society is multidimensional. The main thing in it is vertical and horizontal mobility. Horizontally, all people are equal, while vertically, layers are distinguished.

Researchers studying utopian movements in medieval Europe, determined that utopian fantasies were most widespread among former peasants, driven from their land and becoming urban artisans, workers, unemployed or simply beggars. These people were drawn into a process of geographical mobility, horizontal mobility and, in addition, a process of vertical mobility. It turned out that if combined mobility covers significant masses of people, this always leads to the emergence of social movements.

Horizontal mobility is the physical movement of an individual or group from one region to another. When analyzing vertical mobility, sociologists study both the mobility of an individual within his own career and the differences in the social position of the individual and his parents.

Pitirim Aleksandrovich Sorokin (1889 - 1968) - one of the largest sociologists of the 20th century. Horizontal mobility is actual movement in physical space, migration; vertical - change in social status, movement up and down the social ladder (Sorokin P.A. Social Mobility. In different types of society this movement is different in type and speed. In every society there are so-called elevators through which this movement is carried out. Classic examples these are the army, the school, the bureaucracy, professional and theological organizations. They are as necessary for a social organism as organs for controlling blood flow in a complex biological body. Sorokin came to the conclusion that mobility contributes to the development of mental flexibility and versatility of the intellect in general, but, in turn, gives rise to skepticism, cynicism, leads to pathological isolation, moral decline and suicide.

Stratification is the differentiation of people in a hierarchical order, which is based on the unequal distribution between members of a group of social capital - rights, power, influence, opportunities, privileges and benefits, income, etc. There are three main forms of social stratification: economic, political and professional. Between strata and within them, movements of individuals are observed, which are called social mobility. Social mobility can be horizontal and vertical. Horizontal mobility is the movement from one social group to another, located in the same plane. Vertical - moving from one social level to another.

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The inviolability of the hierarchical structure of society does not mean the absence of any movement within it. At various stages, a sharp increase in one and a decrease in another layer is possible, which cannot be explained by natural population growth - vertical migration of individuals occurs. We will consider these vertical movements, while maintaining the statistic structure itself, as social mobility (let us make a reservation that the very concept of “social mobility” is much broader and also includes horizontal movement of individuals and groups).

Social mobility– a set of social movements of people, i.e. changing one's social status while maintaining the stratification structure of society.

First general principles social mobility were formulated by P. Sorokin, who believed that there is hardly a society whose strata would be absolutely esoteric, i.e. preventing any traffic from crossing its borders. However, history has not known a single country in which vertical mobility was absolutely free, and the transition from one layer to another was carried out without any resistance: “If mobility were absolutely free, then in the society that would result, there would be no there would be social strata. It would resemble a building in which there would be no ceiling - a floor separating one floor from another. But all societies are stratified. This means that a kind of “sieve” functions inside them, sifting individuals, allowing some to rise to the top, leaving others in the lower layers, vice versa.”

The movement of people in the hierarchy of society is carried out through different channels. The most important of them are the following social institutions: army, church, education, political, economic and professional organizations. Each of them had different meaning in different societies and in different periods of history. For example, in Ancient Rome The army provided great opportunities to achieve a high social position. Of the 92 Roman emperors, 36 reached social heights (starting from the lower strata) through military service; of the 65 Byzantine emperors, 12. The church also moved a large number of ordinary people to the top of the social ladder. Of the 144 popes, 28 were of low origin, 27 were from the middle classes (not to mention cardinals, bishops, and abbots). At the same time, the church overthrew a large number of kings, dukes, and princes.

The role of a “sieve” is played not only by social institutions that regulate vertical movements, but also by the subculture and way of life of each layer, which allows each candidate to be tested for “strength,” compliance with the norms and principles of the stratum to which he moves. P. Sorokin points out that the education system provides not only the socialization of the individual, his training, but also acts as a kind of social elevator, which allows the most capable and gifted to rise to the highest “floors” of the social hierarchy. Political parties and organizations form a political elite, the institution of property and inheritance strengthens the owning class, the institution of marriage allows for movement even in the absence of outstanding intellectual abilities.

However, the use driving force any social institution for rising to the top is not always sufficient. In order to gain a foothold in a new stratum, you need to accept its way of life, organically fit into its sociocultural environment, and shape your behavior in accordance with accepted standards and rules - this process is quite painful, since a person is often forced to give up old habits and reconsider his value system. Adaptation to a new sociocultural environment requires high psychological stress, which is fraught nervous breakdowns, development of an inferiority complex, etc. A person may turn out to be an outcast in the social stratum to which he aspired or in which he found himself by the will of fate, if we are talking about a downward movement.

If social institutions, in the figurative expression of P. Sorokin, can be considered as “social elevators,” then the sociocultural shell that envelops each stratum plays the role of a filter that exercises a kind of selective control. The filter may not let through an individual striving to the top, and then, having escaped from the bottom, he will be doomed to be a stranger in the stratum. Having risen to a higher level, he remains, as it were, behind the door leading to the stratum itself.

A similar picture can emerge when moving down. Having lost the right, secured, for example, by capital, to be in the upper strata, the individual descends to a lower level, but finds himself unable to “open the door” to a new sociocultural world. Being unable to adapt to a subculture that is alien to him, he becomes a marginal person, experiencing serious psychological stress.

In society, there is a constant movement of individuals and social groups. During the period of qualitative renewal of society, radical changes in socio-economic and political relations, social movements are especially intense. Wars, revolutions, and global reforms reshaped the social structure of society: the ruling social strata are being replaced, new social groups appear that differ from others in their place in the system of socio-economic relations: entrepreneurs, bankers, tenants, farmers.

From the above, we can distinguish the following types of mobility:

Vertical mobility implies movement from one stratum (estate, class, caste) to another. Depending on the direction, vertical mobility can be upward or downward.

Horizontal mobility – movement within the same social level. For example: moving from a Catholic to an Orthodox religious group, changing one citizenship to another, moving from one family (parental) to another (one’s own, or creating a new family as a result of divorce). Such movements occur without significant changes in social status. But there may be exceptions.

Geographic mobility a type of horizontal mobility. It involves moving from one place to another while maintaining the same status. For example, international tourism. If social status changes when changing place of residence, then mobility turns into migration. Example: if a villager came to the city to visit relatives, then this is geographic mobility. If you came to the city for permanent residence, found a job, changed your profession, then this is migration.

Individual mobility. In a steadily developing society, vertical movements are not group, but individual character, i.e. It is not economic, political and professional groups that rise and fall through the steps of the social hierarchy, but their individual representatives. This does not mean that these movements cannot be massive - on the contrary, in modern society the divide between strata is overcome by many relatively easily. The fact is that, if successful, an individual will, as a rule, change not only his position in the vertical hierarchy, but also his social and professional group.

Group mobility .Displacement occurs collectively. Group mobility introduces great changes into the stratification structure, often affects the relationship between the main social strata and, as a rule, is associated with the emergence of new groups whose status no longer corresponds to the existing hierarchy system. By the middle of the twentieth century. This group, for example, included managers of large enterprises.

Group vertical movements are especially intense during times of economic restructuring. The emergence of new prestigious, highly paid professional groups contributes to mass movement up the hierarchical ladder. The decline in the social status of a profession and the disappearance of some professions provoke not only a downward movement, but also the emergence of marginal strata, uniting individuals who are losing their usual position in society and losing the achieved level of consumption. There is an erosion of sociocultural values ​​and norms that previously united people and predetermined their stable place in the social hierarchy.

Sorokin identified several main reasons for group mobility: social revolutions, civil wars, shift political regimes as a result of revolutions, military coups, reforms, replacement of the old constitution with a new one, peasant uprisings, interstate wars, internecine struggle of aristocratic families.

Economic crises, accompanied by a fall in the level of material well-being of the general public, rising unemployment, and a sharp increase in the income gap, become the root cause of the numerical growth of the most disadvantaged part of the population, which always forms the base of the pyramid of the social hierarchy. Under such conditions, downward movement covers not only individuals, but entire groups, and can be temporary or become sustainable. In the first case, the social group returns to its usual place as it overcomes economic difficulties; in the second case, the group changes its social status and enters a difficult period of adaptation to a new place in the hierarchical pyramid.

So, vertical group movements are associated, firstly, with profound, serious changes in the socio-economic structure of society, causing the emergence of new classes and social groups; secondly, with a change in ideological guidelines, value systems, political priorities - in this case, there is an upward movement of those political forces that were able to perceive changes in the mentality, orientations and ideals of the population, a painful but inevitable change occurs political elite; thirdly, with the imbalance of mechanisms ensuring the reproduction of the stratification structure of society. The mechanisms of institutionalization and legitimation cease to function fully due to the radical changes taking place in society, the growth of conflict and social uncertainty.

Social mobility processes are important performance indicators different types social devices. Societies in which there are conditions for vertical mobility (transition from lower to higher strata, groups, classes), where there is ample opportunities for territorial, including across country borders, mobility are called open. Types of societies in which such movements are complicated or practically impossible are called closed. They are characterized by caste, clanism, and hyperpoliticism. Open paths for vertical mobility are an important condition development modern society. Otherwise, preconditions for social tension and conflicts arise.

Intergenerational mobility . Assumes that children achieve a higher social position or fall to a lower level than their parents. For example, the son of a worker becomes an engineer.

Intragenerational mobility . It assumes that the same individual changes social positions several times throughout his life. This is called a social career. For example, a turner becomes an engineer, then a workshop manager, a plant director, a minister engineering industry. Moving from the sphere of physical labor to the sphere of mental labor.

On other bases, mobility may be classified into spontaneous or organized.

Examples of spontaneous mobility include movements for the purpose of earning money by residents of neighboring countries in big cities neighboring states

Organized mobility - the movement of a person or group vertically or horizontally is controlled by the state.

Organized mobility can be carried out: a) with the consent of the people themselves; b) without consent (involuntary) mobility. For example, deportation, repatriation, dispossession, repression, etc.

It is necessary to distinguish from organized mobility structural mobility. It is caused by changes in the structure National economy and occurs beyond the will and consciousness of individual individuals. The disappearance or reduction of industries or professions leads to the displacement of large numbers of people.

The degree of mobility in a society is determined by two factors: the range of mobility in a society and the conditions that allow people to move.

The range of mobility depends on how many different statuses exist within it. The more statuses, the more opportunities a person has to move from one status to another.

Industrial society has expanded the range of mobility and is characterized by a much larger number of different statuses. The first decisive factor in social mobility is the level of economic development. During periods of economic depression, the number of high-status positions decreases and low-status positions expand, so downward mobility dominates. It intensifies during periods when people lose their jobs and at the same time new layers enter the labor market. On the contrary, during periods of active economic development many new high-status positions appear. Increased demand for workers to keep them busy is the main reason for upward mobility.

Thus, social mobility determines the dynamics of development of the social structure of society and contributes to the creation of a balanced hierarchical pyramid.

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SOCIAL MOBILITY - the ability of an individual or a social group to change their place in the social structure of society. Essentially, these are all movements of the individual, family, social group in the system of social connections. People are in constant motion, and society is in development; Therefore, one of the important mechanisms of social stratification is social mobility. For the first time the theory of M. s. was developed and introduced into scientific circulation by the famous Russian sociologist P. A. Sorokin.

There are two main types of M. s. – intergenerational and intragenerational, as well as two main types – vertical and horizontal. They fall into subspecies and subtypes, which are closely related to each other. Intergenerational mobility involves children achieving a higher social position or falling to a lower level than their parents. For example, the son of a worker becomes an engineer. Intragenerational mobility occurs when the same individual changes social positions throughout his life. Otherwise it is called a social career. For example, a turner becomes an engineer, then a workshop manager, a plant director, etc. Vertical mobility implies movement from one stratum (estate, class, caste) to another. At birth, a person receives the social status of his parents. However, during the active period of his activity, a person may not be satisfied with his position in this social stratum and achieve more. If his status is changed to a higher one, then upward mobility takes place. However, as a result of life disasters (job loss, illness, etc.), he may move into a lower status group. This triggers downward mobility. These are all types of vertical mobility.

Horizontal mobility is the transition of an individual or social group from one social position to another, located at the same social level. An example could be a transition from one profession to another, in which there is no significant change in social status. A type of horizontal mobility is geographic mobility. It involves simply moving from one place to another while maintaining the same status. However, if a change of location is added to a change of status, then geographic mobility turns into population migration. Group mobility occurs where and when the social significance of an entire class, estate, caste, rank, or category increases or decreases. According to P.A. Sorokin, the reasons for group mobility were the following factors: social revolutions; foreign interventions, invasions; interstate and civil wars; military coups and changes of political regimes; replacing the old constitution with a new one; peasant uprisings; internecine struggle of aristocratic families; creation of an empire. Individual mobility occurs when downward, upward or horizontal movement occurs in an individual independently of others.

Mobility can also be voluntary and violent, structural and organized. Mobility, distinguished by spheres of social life, can be economic, political, professional, religious, etc. Changes in the class structure of society are the result of mobility: interclass and intraclass (déclassification, marginalization, lumpenization). Channels of mobility, or institutions (according to P. Sorokin): army, school, church, marriage, property. Sometimes they are called elevators. Mobility differs in open and closed societies. Closed societies - caste, slave-owning. Open – industrial (bourgeois). Semi-closed - feudal. In a closed society, mobility is sharply limited, in an open society - high degree mobility.

Social mobility is associated with the presence in society of objective and subjective living conditions of an individual or social group, which provide them with the opportunity to change their social position or status, i.e., in other words, it is the movement of individuals or groups in social space.

Before moving on to considering the processes of social mobility, we list some factors leading to the stratification of society. Different aspects and elements of layering have different time periods of action, so the time factor plays a certain role here. Interaction with other cultures also acts as a stimulus for stratification changes. Urbanization processes, as well as factors of social disintegration, are no less important.
The mechanisms of stratification in society manifest themselves at two levels: non-institutional and institutional. At the non-institutional level, these changes are expressed in everyday life, in social psychology, behavioral acts. At the institutional level, such changes are consolidated in various social institutions. On the one hand, social groups strive to distinguish themselves as social entities and maintain their social status. But on the other hand, trends are emerging that lead to the weakening of the existing situation. It is then that the mechanism of social mobility manifests itself.

Exist different types social mobility (intergenerational, intragenerational, professional, etc.), which in general can be reduced to two manifestations (types) - vertical and horizontal mobility.

Vertical mobility is associated with the movement of an individual or group in a system of social hierarchy, including a change in social status. Vertical mobility can be upward or downward. If a person or a social group’s status is changed to a higher, more prestigious one, then upward mobility can be stated. Accordingly, the transition to a lower status means downward mobility.

Horizontal mobility is expressed in the movement of an individual or group in the social structure without changing social status.

Horizontal movements consist of natural and territorial types of mobility (for example, moving from city to city).
.
Social mobility can be individual or group. Group mobility takes place where the social significance of a class, social group, or stratum increases or decreases. Among the reasons for group mobility are social revolutions, invasions, wars, changes in political regimes, replacement of the old constitution with a new one, etc., that is, the stratification system itself is changing. Sociologists include the social status of the family, the level of education received, nationality, abilities, external data, place of residence, and an advantageous marriage as factors of individual mobility.

In addition, mobility can be organized (managed, for example, by the state, with and without the consent of people (repatriation of small nations, dispossession, etc.). At the same time, structural mobility is distinguished, which differs from organized mobility, since it is caused by change in the structure economic activity society.

Social mobility is measured using indicators such as mobility distance (shows how many steps up or down the social ladder there was a movement), volume of mobility (the number of individuals who were included in vertical mobility).

Changes in mobility by strata are taken into account by such indicators as the coefficient of mobility of exit from a social stratum, the coefficient of mobility of entry into a social stratum.

Horizontal and vertical mobility are influenced by demographic factors: gender, age, birth rate, death rate, population density.

One of the complete descriptions of vertical mobility channels was proposed by P. Sorokin (“vertical circulation channels”). Among them are various social institutions that facilitate the movement of an individual from one layer to another: the army, church, school, property, family and marriage.

However, in society the transition of individuals from one social group to another cannot always occur without hindrance. M. Weber described such a phenomenon as a social clause - the closure of a group within itself. This phenomenon characterizes the stabilization of social life, the transition from the early to the mature stage of development, the increasing role of the ascribed status and the decreasing role of the achieved.

The system of redistribution of power, material values, etc. can be based on a fixed rule-making basis. In this case, there is stratification at the institutional level. “At the institutional level of layer formation, the social structure is fixed, i.e., the correlation of a person with one or another category of property, official and other rights and, depending on this, with specific benefits and responsibilities.” This is where those begin to act social mechanisms, which introduce layer formation processes into a codified channel.

Legislative legal bodies codify the norms of interaction between different social groups and balance the interests of varying strata on the basis of common social interests.