The beginning of the study of social mobility is associated with the name of P. Sorokin (1927. "Social Mobility"). According to Sorokin, social mobility is understood as any transition of an individual or social object (value, direction), i.e. all that is created or modified by human activity, from one social position to another.

There are the following types of mobility:

1) horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal mobility is the movement of an individual or social object from one social group to another, located at the same level (for example, a change of confession, family, views). Vertical mobility is movement from one social stratum to another. Depending on the direction of vertical mobility, there are:

a) upward mobility (social uplift, increase in social status)

b) descending (lowering social status).

2) individual and group.

3) intergenerational (intergenerational mobility - a change in the position of the individual in comparison with the position of the parents) and intragenerational (intragenerational - a change in the position of the individual in comparison with his previous position).

4) organized - movement vertically and horizontally, controlled by the state). Can be voluntary or involuntary.

5) structural - displacement caused by changes in the economy and occurring against the will and consciousness of individuals and groups.

Social mobility channels

The availability of paths for social mobility depends both on the individual and on the structure of the society in which he lives. Individual ability matters a little if society distributes rewards based on prescribed roles. On the other hand, an open society does little to help an individual who is not prepared for the struggle to advance to higher status.

In some societies, young people's ambitions may find one or two possible channels of mobility open to them. At the same time, in other societies, young people can take hundreds of ways to achieve higher status. Some ways of achieving higher status may be closed due to ethnic or social-caste discrimination, others due to the fact that an individual, due to individual characteristics, is simply not able to use his talents.

However, in order to completely change social status, individuals often face the problem of entering a new subculture of a group with a higher status, as well as the related problem of interactions with representatives of a new social environment. To overcome the cultural barrier and the barrier of communication, there are several ways that individuals in one way or another resort to in the process of social mobility.

1. Change in lifestyle. It is not enough just to earn and spend a lot of money in the case when an individual is equal in income with representatives of a higher social stratum. To assimilate a new status level, he needs to accept a new material standard corresponding to this level. Arrangement of an apartment, purchase of books, TV, car, etc. - everything must correspond to a new, higher status. Material everyday culture is not a very noticeable, but very significant way of getting involved in a higher status level. But the material way of life is only one of the moments of acquiring a new status and in itself, without changing other components of culture, means little.

2. Development of typical status behavior. A person oriented towards vertical mobility will not be accepted into a higher social-class stratum until he has mastered the patterns of behavior of this stratum so that he can follow them without any effort. Clothing patterns, verbal expressions, leisure activities, manner of communication - all this is undergoing revision and should become the usual and only possible type of behavior. Children are often specially trained to learn high-class social behavior by teaching them music, dance and good manners. True, not all aspects of the subculture of a social stratum or group can be mastered as a result of deliberate learning and conscious imitation, but such efforts can accelerate the process of acceptance by an individual of a subculture of a higher social stratum.

3. Changing the social environment. This method is based on establishing contacts with individuals and associations of the status soy into which the mobile individual is socialized. The ideal condition for entering a new layer is position? when an individual is completely surrounded by representatives of the layer where he seeks to get. In this case, the subculture is mastered very quickly. However, the positive aspect of networking is always that a new acquaintance can create a favorable social

opinion in favor of the beginner.

4. Marriage with a representative of a higher status stratum. At all times, such a marriage has served as the best way to overcome barriers to social mobility. First, it can greatly contribute to the manifestation of talents if it gives material well-being. Secondly, it provides the individual with the opportunity to quickly rise, often bypassing several status levels. Third, marriage with a representative or

a representative of a higher status to a large extent solves the problems of the social environment and the rapid development of samples of the culture of the higher status stratum. Marriages of this kind allowed people to overcome the most difficult social barriers in caste society, as well as penetrate the elite strata. But such a marriage can be useful only if an individual from a lower status stratum is prepared for the rapid assimilation of new patterns of behavior and lifestyle of a new social environment for him, if he cannot quickly assimilate new cultural statuses and standards, then this marriage is nothing will, since representatives of the higher status stratum will not consider the individual "theirs".

The concept of social mobility means the movement of individuals (sometimes groups) between different positions in the hierarchy of social stratification, associated with a change in their status. According to P. Sorokin's definition, "social mobility is understood as any transition of an individual ... from one social position to another."

Distinguish between horizontal and vertical social mobility. Horizontal social mobility means a change in social position without a change in rank (a person worked as a teacher in one school, but moved to another). Vertical mobility means a change in their status with a change in rank: a teacher becomes a school director, a director becomes a deputy, etc. Vertical social mobility can be upward and downward.

There are also intragenerational and intergenerational social mobility. With intragenerational mobility, a change in social status occurs within one human life, with intergenerational mobility - we are talking about a change in the social status of children in comparison with their parents. If there is no such change, then we can conclude about the rigidity (stability, inertia) of the stratification structure.

The intensity of social mobility depends on the permeability of the boundaries between strata and classes of society. If these boundaries are impenetrable (closed structure), then social mobility is minimal, prescribed statuses prevail in society. If the boundaries between classes are permeable (open structure), then social mobility is very intense, the attainable statuses prevail. It should be noted that there are no absolutely closed or absolutely open systems; we can only talk about a greater or lesser degree of one or the other.

The most striking example of a society close to a closed type is Ancient India with its rigid caste system, when caste membership was inherited, consecrated by religious beliefs and was not subject to change, and communication between caste members was limited. There are thousands of castes in India today and they still influence people's behavior. In particular, marriages of representatives of different castes are condemned.

The stratification system of medieval European societies was also close to closed. A man was a knight, an aristocrat as well as a peasant from birth. However, a peasant could become a craftsman, monk, merchant. A feudal lord could also become a cleric. Representatives of almost all estates could study in medieval universities in Europe. Those. despite the difficulty of changing social status and the fact that such a change in one's status was often condemned, the opportunity for him still existed, which means that the system was not completely closed.

Modern society is approaching the option of absolute openness. The fact of changing one's position is more the rule than the exception. However, we cannot say that modern society provides everyone with equal chances for social growth. The son of wealthy parents has much more such chances than the son of not very prosperous parents, a graduate of a prestigious university is more than a graduate of a provincial institute, a man still has more than a woman, a resident of a large city has more than a resident of a village etc. This suggests that some people find it easier to change their social status than others, as well as the existence of something similar to medieval privileges. That. and a modern society of equal opportunities and universal openness is also not a society with a completely open social structure.

In any structured society, there are certain channels of social mobility, i.e. paths by which an individual can change his social status. P. Sorokin identified several such channels:

1) Education - from antiquity to the present day, mastering knowledge gave a chance to improve one's status. Therefore, access to education has always been difficult, presupposes a fairly strict selection of candidates. In principle, even in modern society, with all the availability of education, there are elite educational institutions, access to which is limited.

2) Army, or participation in hostilities (at the end of the Roman Empire, the Praetorians had a chance not only to elect emperors, but also to become emperors themselves). Napoleon and de Gaulle also gained power through military action. In modern societies, this path is not the most common. However, it is still relevant in societies where the military is the main political force.

3) Favoritism - closeness to those who have power and influence. This path of elevation is most typical for patriarchal societies with a closed structure of stratification, and this includes all pre-industrial societies. In modern society, it exists in the form of "acquaintances", unofficial patronage, etc.

4) Economic activity. If successful, it leads to wealth, which makes it possible for further social ascent.

5) A successful marriage, that is, a marriage with a representative of a higher class.

To these channels can be added also characteristic for a modern democratic society:

6) Participation in political movements and parties. It should be noted that virtually all social institutions can act as such channels, as well as work in various kinds of bureaucratic organizations, the structure of which is characterized by a clear hierarchy of levels, the ascent along which means an increase in status.

In society, there may be “workarounds” for social mobility. This is due to the fact that legal channels are not available to everyone and not to the same extent. The most famous illegal channel is organized crime.

Collective (group) social mobility

Group mobility occurs when a group, stratum or class changes its social position. The reforms of Russian society, carried out since the mid-1980s, led to the fact that a number of groups lost their position or significantly lowered their status (party nomenclature, engineers and technicians, teachers of schools and universities, representatives of the military-industrial complex, etc.) ... At the same time, new groups and new elites emerged in various spheres of activity (although the new elites also included many of the most active representatives of the old elites, the same party nomenclature).

Collective mobility is characteristic precisely for societies undergoing radical reforms or revolutions. The European bourgeoisie, in order to consolidate its economic domination, went through a series of revolutions that gave it political power, pushing back the representatives of the hereditary aristocracy. The Russian revolution of 1917 led not only to the suppression, but in fact to the complete physical destruction of the former ruling class - the nobility, which can serve as an example of downward group mobility.

Collective social mobility is usually accompanied by large-scale changes in the value system of a given society. The prevailing culture of the former elites is being replaced by the values ​​and norms of the new “masters of life”. The coming to power of the bourgeois class, which meant the formation of a new type of society - capitalist, led to the fact that the former aristocratic values ​​(honor of the family, generosity up to extravagance, military valor, the cult of the beautiful, etc.) were replaced by bourgeois virtues (hard work, thrift , simplicity and purity of morals, modesty, prudence). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, these bourgeois virtues were also reassessed. After the youth riots that engulfed European countries and the United States during this period, new values ​​spread - hedonism, self-indulgence, a free attitude to moral norms, an orientation towards the development of one's own individuality. These values ​​underlie the modern Western consumer society and modern mass culture, creating certain difficulties. The difficulty lies in the fact that such values ​​are difficult to combine with social obligations, duty and responsibility, without which society cannot exist.

Collective mobility is common in societies where individual mobility is minimized. An example of such a society is India, where from time to time there are changes in the position of individual castes. Individuals, however, remain firmly "attached" to their castes.

The arbitrary choice of criteria for determining social classes and strata is due to a whole complex of processes in modern societies that smooth out class differences. We will return to this issue at the end of Topic 6, in the short essay "The End of Large Group Society?"

§ 5. What is marginality?

Marginality is a special sociological term for the borderline, transitional, structurally indefinite social state of the subject. People who, for various reasons, drop out of their usual social environment and are unable to join new communities (often for reasons of cultural inconsistency), who are experiencing great psychological stress and are experiencing a kind of crisis of identity, are called marginalized.

The theory of marginals and marginal communities was put forward in the first quarter of the 20th century. one of the founders of the Chicago Sociological School (USA) R. E. Park. But even K. Marx considered the problems of social declassing and its consequences, and M. Weber directly concluded that the movement of society begins when the marginal strata are organized into a kind of social force (community) and give impetus to social changes - revolutions or reforms.

Weber's name is associated with a deeper interpretation of marginality, which made it possible to explain the formation of new professional, status, religious and similar communities, which, of course, not in all cases could arise from "social waste" - individuals forcibly dislodged from their communities (unemployed , refugees, migrants, etc.) or asocial according to the chosen lifestyle (vagrants, drug addicts, etc.). On the one hand, sociologists have always recognized an unconditional connection between the emergence of a mass of people excluded from the system of customary (normal, that is, accepted in society) social ties, and the process of the formation of new communities: negentropic tendencies in human communities act according to the principle of “chaos must to be somehow ordered. " (It is these processes that are taking place in modern Russian society.)

On the other hand, the emergence of new classes, strata and groups in practice is almost never associated with the organized activity of beggars and homeless people, rather, it can be viewed as the construction of "parallel social structures" by people whose social life until the last moment of "transition" (which often looks as a "jump" to a new, pre-prepared structural position) was quite orderly.

The marginals are understood as individuals, their groups and communities that are formed at the boundaries of social strata and structures and within the framework of the processes of transition from one type of sociality to another, or in the extreme type of sociality with its serious deformations.

Among the marginals there may be ethnomarginal people: national minorities; biomarginal, whose health is no longer a matter of social concern; socio-marginal people, such as groups in the process of unfinished social displacement; age margins that form when ties between generations are broken; political marginals: they are not satisfied with legal opportunities and legitimate rules of social and political struggle; economic marginals of the traditional type (unemployed) and the so-called “new poor”; religious marginals - standing outside the confessions or not daring to make a choice between them; and, finally, criminal marginals; and perhaps also just those whose status in the social structure is not defined.

A classic example of a socio-marginal migrant can be called the protagonist of the film "Afonya" (directed by GA Danelia, 1974).

The factors of social mobility are, firstly, the maturation of the individual. For example, a child, a priori, will eventually change his status, leaving the circle of responsibilities and rights that belonged to him as an immature individual. In the same way, an elderly person, going beyond the age limits, changes his status as a worker to a pensioner.

Secondly, it should be noted the vertical mobility resulting from this change in status can occur both along the ascending and descending trajectory of movement.

Factors of social mobility of this type are the following: an increase in the level of education of an individual (for example, obtaining a diploma), a change in job due to the accumulation of experience (for example, obtaining a higher professional category, military rank), loss of a job or demotion (for example, in connection with labor violations or in connection with violations of legislation by the administrative bodies of the enterprise - dismissal due to pregnancy or disability), getting into “places not so distant”, disability.

Horizontal mobility is called a change by an individual within the same (change of place of residence, religion, work in the same status, and more).

When discussing mobility, it should be noted that the movement of an individual in society has a certain conditionality. Chaotic mobility takes place only when the social structure is unstable, in connection with historical turning points or during an economic crisis. With a stable structure of society, a change in the status of an individual can occur only with the approval of the social environment, through certain channels.

In a broad sense, channels of social mobility are social structures, methods and mechanisms used by an individual in order to get the opportunity to move from one social status to another.

That is, educational institutions in which a citizen can receive an education that gives him the right to occupy a higher position are channels of social mobility. This also includes political parties and bodies of political power, economic structures and public organizations, the army and the Church, family and clan ties and professional labor unions.

It should also be noted that the structures of organized crime are also channels of social mobility, since they themselves have their own internal system of mobility and, moreover, often have a rather tangible influence on the “official” channels.

Taking into account the fact that the channels of social mobility work as an integral social system, we can say that its structure consists of a variety of institutional and legal procedures that may or may not allow the movement of the individual.

These include examination commissions, guardianship authorities, district administrations, housing commissions, military registration and enlistment office, court and others. If a person wants to climb the vertical ladder of status, he needs to undergo a certain "test", which will show whether this individual corresponds to a new, desired status.

For example, you must present the necessary documents to the housing commission, when you receive a diploma, you must undergo training and pass final exams, when you apply for a job, you must pass an interview.

How, within the framework of a stable social structure of society, does social mobility, that is, the movement of individuals along this very social structure? It is obvious that such movement within the framework of a complexly organized system cannot occur spontaneously, disorganized, 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 a desire for that, but also get approval from the social environment. Only in this case is a real change in status possible, which will mean a change by the individual of his position within the social structure of society. So, if a young man or a 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), the applicant achieves the assignment of the desired status to him - 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 are meaningful only within the framework of specific social institutions. The statuses of a student or a teacher cannot exist apart from the institution of education; the statuses of a doctor or patient - apart from the institute of health care; the statuses of a candidate or doctor of sciences - outside the institute of science. This gives rise to the idea of ​​social institutions as a kind of social space, within which most of the status changes take place. Such spaces are called channels of social mobility.
In a strict sense, under channel of social mobility such social structures, mechanisms, methods that can be used for the implementation of social mobility are understood. As mentioned above, in modern society, social institutions most often act as such channels. Bodies of political power, political parties, public organizations, economic structures, professional labor organizations and unions, the army, the church, the education system, family and clan ties are of primary importance. Organized crime structures that have their own mobility system, but often have a strong influence on the “official” channels of mobility (for example, corruption), are also of great importance today.

In their totality, the channels of social mobility act as an integral system, complementing, limiting, stabilizing each other's activities. As a result, we can talk about a universal system of institutional and legal procedures for moving individuals along a stratification structure, which is a complex mechanism of social selection. In the event of any attempt by an individual to improve his social position, that is, to raise his social status, he will be, to one degree or another, "tested" for compliance with the requirements for the holder 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 testers, but on the basis of their ideas about the desired qualities of the subject) procedures.
For example, to enter a university, you must pass entrance exams. But in order to be accepted into a new family, you need to go through a long process of getting to know the existing rules and traditions, confirm your loyalty to them, and get 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 test subjects. Depending on the situation, either the first or the second component is more important.

Social connections: concept, structure, types.

Individuals, carrying out their actions, enter into connections (interconnections) and relationships (relationships) among themselves. Social connection- these are the actions of people, taking into account the possible actions of other people. In another way, it is called interaction. Social connection is due to the collectivity of human life, the dependence of people on each other. It can be expressed as follows: “I depend on others when the objects, goods, conditions that I require are at the disposal of others. And vice versa". For example, I get on a bus, pay for the fare, and the driver takes me along the designated route.

The main elements social connection are: 1) different people (for example, passengers and drivers) with their motivational mechanisms (needs, values, norms, beliefs, roles); 2) situations of social connection (objects, money, power, law, statuses of people, etc.); 3) concerted actions, the performance of roles (for example, passengers and drivers), the result (the benefit received and the associated satisfaction or dissatisfaction) of people. Thus, a social connection is a connection between the actions of people in a certain situation, prompted by some needs, motives, incentives (scheme 1).

Depending on the time and frequency, the social connection is divided into (1) random and 2) necessary (sustainable). This affects the nature of the regulation of the social degree of obligation and responsibility of its participants. You behave differently with your bus neighbor than with your housemate. With the latter, you behave more necessarily, that is. taking into account all the various motivations of the relationship, since the neighbor's attitude towards you is largely determined by your attitude towards him.

Social connection can be formal or informal. Informal the connection is characterized by a lack of subordination, a natural division of its participants according to statuses and roles, expressing their needs, values, norms, beliefs embodied in traditions. This social connection is characteristic of a traditional (agrarian) society, family ties. Within its framework, the participants are not regulated by legal and administrative norms, there is no governing body or leader in it. This is also a friendly conversation, scientific discussion, artel work, etc.

Formal communication presupposes legal and administrative norms for its regulation; it divides those participating in it into statuses and roles that subordinate them. In such a social connection there is a governing body that develops norms, organizes people, monitors the implementation of instructions, etc. Such a body can be, for example, a church or a state. Formally impersonal communication is the basis of industrial society (in particular, capitalist and Soviet).

Exchange (according to D. Homeans) is a form of social connection in which people interact based on their experience, weigh the possible profit and costs. The exchange occurs during the sale and purchase, the provision of services to each other, etc.

Conflict is a form of social connection, which is a struggle of opposing motives (intrapersonal), people (interpersonal), social formations - social institutions, organizations, communities (social).

Competition is a form of social connection in which people fight for favorable conditions of work and sale of goods, for political programs and power, for new ideas and organizations. As a rule, it is conducted within the framework of moral and legal rules, is a source of wealth (according to A. Smith), is a process of cognition, learning and the discovery of new knowledge, as well as new goods, markets, technologies (according to F. Hayek).

Cooperation is a form of social connection when the statuses, roles, actions of people are clearly coordinated: for example, in a family, at a factory, in a store, etc. In cooperation, social connection takes the form of a social institution and organization, i.e., it is a system of stable , direct and indirect, formal and informal social ties. Cooperation can be compulsory (administrative) and voluntary (democratic). Social cooperation is characterized by the social capital of its participants, representing a set of such informal values ​​and norms as truthfulness, honesty (fulfillment of obligations), cooperation.

Social connection (exchange, competition, conflict, cooperation) can be demographic, economic, political, spiritual, etc. depending on the subject, nature and subject of communication. For example: the subject of economic interaction is an economic good (money, profit, wealth, cost, shares, etc.); interaction is of a financial and economic nature, presupposes certain knowledge, actions, experience; an economic subject has an economic need, motive, value orientation, which prompts him to economic interaction.

Social interaction: social contacts and social action. The main theories of social interaction: M. Weber on the types and types of social action, T. Parsons on the system of social action.

The essence of social action. For the first time in sociology, the concept of "social action" was introduced and scientifically substantiated by Max Weber. He called a social action "a person's action (regardless of whether it is external or internal, whether it comes down to non-intervention or patient acceptance), which, according to the supposed actor or actors, is related to the action of other people or is oriented towards it."

Any social action is preceded by social contacts, however, unlike them, social action is a rather complex phenomenon. Any social action must include: 1. an actor; 2. the need to activate behavior; 3. the purpose of the action; 4. method of action; 5. another actor to whom the action is directed; 6. result of the action.

Under social interaction a system of interdependent social actions connected by cyclical causal dependence is understood, in which the actions of one subject are both a cause and a consequence of the response actions of other subjects. This means that every social action is caused by a previous social action and at the same time is the cause of subsequent actions. Thus, social actions are links in an unbreakable chain called interaction. Communicating with friends, work colleagues, relatives, a person constantly carries out social interactions, which are even more diverse in forms of manifestation than social actions.

Parsons went on to develop Weber's theory of social action. He considers the subject of sociology system of (social) action, which, unlike social action (the action of an individual), includes the organized activities of many people. The system of action includes subsystems that perform interrelated functions: 1) social subsystem (group of people) - the function of integrating people; 2) cultural subsystem - reproduction of a pattern of behavior used by a group of people; 3) personal subsystem - goal achievement; 4) behavioral organism - the function of adaptation to the external environment.

The subsystems of the system of social action differ functionally, having the same structure. Social subsystem deals with the integration of the behavior of people and social groups. Societies (family, village, city, country, etc.) are the types of social subsystems. Cultural(religious, artistic, scientific) subsystem is engaged in the production of spiritual (cultural) values ​​- symbolic meanings that people, organized into social subsystems, implement in their behavior. Cultural (religious, moral, scientific, etc.) meanings orient human activity (give it meaning). For example, a person rises to the attack, risking his life for the sake of defending his homeland. Personal the subsystem realizes its needs, interests, goals in the process of some activity in order to satisfy these needs, interests, and achieve goals. Personality is the main executor and regulator of action processes (a sequence of some operations). Behavioral organism is a subsystem of social action, including the human brain, human movement organs, capable of physically affecting the natural environment, adapting it to the needs of people. Parsons emphasizes that all the listed subsystems of social action are "ideal types", abstract concepts that do not exist in reality. Hence the well-known complexity in the interpretation and understanding of T. Parsons.

Weber's ideal types of social action

The term “social mobility” was introduced into sociology in 1927 by P. Sorokin. He also distinguished vertical (ascending - social rise, upward movement / rise in knowledge, in position, transformation of an idea into dominant, approval of fashion /, and falling - social descent - downward movement / deprivation of status, degradation, bankruptcy /) mobility associated with the transition from one layer to another, and horizontal, in which movements occur within one layer, and the status and prestige of the position do not change. This type of mobility can be associated with a change in place of residence (migration), transfer to a different religious group, etc.

The totality of social movements of people in O, i.e. changes in their status is called social mobility.

Movement up and down is called a vertical mob-ty, it is of 2 types: descending (social descent, downward movement) and ascending (social ascent).

Horizontal mobility is the transition of an individual from one social group to another located at the same level (eg, change of citizenship, moving from Orthodox to Catholic religions). A kind of horizontal mob-ty is a geographer mob-ty: moving from one place to another while maintaining the previous status (international and interregional tourism). If a change of place is added to a change of status, then the geographer of the mob turns into migration (moving from village to city to a permanent place of residence).

The classification of social mob-ty can be carried out according to other criteria. So, for example, an individual mob is distinguished, when movements down, up or horizontally occur for an ind, independently of others, and a group mob, when movements occur collectively, for example, after the social revolution, the old dominant class concedes its position to the new state class.

The factors of an individual mob-ty include: social status of the family, ur image, nationality, place of residence.

Vertical mobility channels:

The army functions as a channel not in peacetime, but in wartime. In wartime, soldiers advance through talent and courage. Having risen in rank, they use the resulting power as a channel for further advancement and accumulation of wealth. They have the opportunity to loot, plunder, seize.

The church, as a channel of social mobility, has moved large numbers of people from the bottom to the top of society. P. Sorokin studied the biographies of 144 Roman Catholic popes and found that 28 came from the bottom, and 27 - from the middle strata.

School as an institution of education and upbringing, no matter what specific form it takes, has served as a powerful channel of social mobility throughout the centuries. Large contests for colleges and universities in many countries are explained by the fact that education is the fastest and most affordable channel for vertical mobility.

Property manifests itself most clearly in the form of accumulated wealth and money. P. Sorokin found that not all, but only some occupations and professions contribute to the accumulation of wealth. According to his calculations, in 29% of cases this allows the occupation of a manufacturer, in 21% - a banker and a stockist, in 12% - a merchant. The professions of artists, painters, inventors, statesmen and the like do not provide such opportunities.

Family and marriage are channels of vertical mobility in the event that representatives of different social statuses enter the union. For example, an example of such mobility can be seen in Antiquity. According to Roman law, a free woman who married a slave becomes a slave herself and loses her status as a free citizen. 31. Social progress and regression. Anomie.

The concept of development is applied to the processes of improvement, improvement, complication.

The result of the process of social development are new quantitative and qualitative components of a social object, which can be expressed in an increase (decrease) in its level.Progress is usually understood as an improvement in the social structure of society and the cultural life of a person. It presupposes such an orientation of social and all social development, which is characterized by the transition from lower forms to higher ones, from less perfect to more perfect ones. It is important to note here such components as the improvement of working conditions, the acquisition by the human person of greater freedom, political and social rights, the complication of the tasks facing society. The total set of social changes on a historical scale from primitive to modern society can be characterized as progressive development. Although, of course, it is very difficult to find some kind of universal theoretical, scientific formula for such development. There are areas to which the concept of progress is not applicable (as a transition from simple to complex). This is the field of art as a social institution, religion. There are areas that can definitely be attributed to progress: engineering, technology.

There is the concept of "regression", which is opposite to progress in its direction.

Anomy (from the French anomie - lawlessness, abnormality) (ancient Greek ἀ- - negative prefix, νόμος - law) is a concept introduced into scientific circulation by Emile Durkheim to explain deviant behavior (suicidal moods, apathy, disappointment, unlawful behavior ). According to Durkheim, anomie is a state of society in which decomposition, disintegration and disintegration of the system of values ​​and norms that guarantee public order occur. A necessary condition for the emergence of anomie in society is the discrepancy between the needs and interests of some of its members, on the one hand, and the possibilities of satisfying them, on the other. It manifests itself in the form of the following violations:

the vagueness, instability and inconsistency of value-normative prescriptions and orientations, in particular, the discrepancy between the norms that determine the goals of activity and the norms that regulate the means of achieving them;

low degree of influence of social norms on individuals and their weak effectiveness as a means of normative regulation of behavior;

partial or complete absence of normative regulation in crisis, transitional situations, when the old system of values ​​has been destroyed, and the new one has not developed or has not been established as generally accepted.