Types of Social Mobility

Introduction and Historical Context

In sociology, social mobility refers to the movement of individuals, families, or groups within the stratification system of a society. The systematic study of this concept was pioneered by Pitirim Sorokin in his seminal book, “Social Mobility” (1927). Historically, sociological interest in mobility emerged during the Industrial Revolution, transitioning from rigid agrarian societies (closed systems) to industrialized, capitalist societies (open systems) where social status was increasingly achieved rather than ascribed.

Typology of Social Mobility

Vertical vs. Horizontal Mobility (Sorokin’s Framework)

Pitirim Sorokin conceptualized two primary axes of mobility:

• Vertical Mobility: Movement up or down the social hierarchy involving changes in power, wealth, and prestige. This can be Upward (Social Ascending), often achieved through meritocracy, or Downward (Social Descending), resulting from economic crises or job losses.
• Horizontal Mobility: Movement within the same social stratum, altering an individual’s role without changing their hierarchical class position (e.g., a teacher becoming a bank teller).

Intragenerational vs. Intergenerational Mobility

Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan, in their work “The American Occupational Structure” (1967), highlighted how occupational attainment is measured across time:

• Intergenerational Mobility: Changes in social status between different generations within the same family (e.g., the son of a peasant becoming an IAS officer). This is considered the best indicator of societal openness.
• Intragenerational Mobility: Also known as career mobility, it measures the changes in social position within an individual’s own adult lifetime.

Structural vs. Exchange Mobility

Sociologists S.M. Lipset and Hans Zetterberg distinguished between mobility driven by individual effort versus systemic changes:

• Structural Mobility: Upward mobility made possible by changes in the occupational structure of society, such as the shift from manufacturing to services (post-industrialization).
• Exchange (Circulation) Mobility: Movement where individuals swap positions. If someone moves up, another must move down to make room, keeping the class distribution constant. This echoes Vilfredo Pareto’s concept of the “Circulation of Elites.”

Systems of Upward Mobility: Turner’s Model

Ralph H. Turner introduced a comparative framework to understand how different educational systems sponsor mobility:

The Indian Context: Paper 2 Integration

Analyzing social mobility in India requires moving beyond Western class-based models to understand the intersection of caste, class, and power.

Mobility in the Traditional Caste System

While often viewed as a rigidly closed system, traditional India possessed avenues for mobility. K.M. Panikkar noted historically that political power could alter caste status (e.g., peasant castes declaring Kshatriya status upon acquiring kingdoms). M.N. Srinivas introduced the concept of Sanskritization, illustrating how lower castes sought upward mobility by emulating the rituals and lifestyles of dominant castes. However, Srinivas noted this only resulted in positional change, not structural change.

Modernity, Class, and Changing Hierarchies

With democratization and modern education, the avenues for mobility have transformed:

• Disharmonic System: Andre Beteille, in his study of Sripuram (“Caste, Class, and Power”), observed that caste, class, and power are no longer strictly aligned. A Brahmin may have high ritual status but lack economic or political power, allowing backward castes upward mobility through the democratic process.
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• Reservations as a Mobility Catalyst: Affirmative action policies have fostered a Dalit Middle Class, though thinkers like Ghanshyam Shah argue that the benefits are often captured by a “creamy layer,” restricting broader structural mobility.
• Downward Mobility (De-peasantization): Agrarian distress has forced many small and marginal farmers into the urban informal sector, a phenomenon Marxist scholars like Utsa Patnaik link to the structural violence of neoliberal policies.

Contemporary Relevance and Global Trends

In the modern, globalized world, the dynamics of social mobility are rapidly evolving under the influence of technological disruption and neoliberal capitalism:

• The Gig Economy and Downward Mobility: Guy Standing warns of the rise of the “Precariat”—a new class lacking occupational predictability or security, reflecting systemic downward intragenerational mobility.
• Globalization and Structural Opportunities: In nations like India, the IT and services boom has facilitated massive structural upward mobility. Anthropologist Carol Upadhya notes how the tech sector has birthed a new, highly mobile middle class, though access remains skewed toward upper-caste urban elites.
• The Digital Divide: Sociologist Manuel Castells argues that in the informational age, access to digital networks determines social mobility, creating a stark divide between the “networked elites” and the “disconnected marginalized.”

Conclusion

Social mobility remains the defining metric of a just and egalitarian society. However, as John Goldthorpe observes in his studies on class mobility, while absolute mobility (overall rising living standards) has increased in modern societies, relative mobility (the comparative chance of a working-class child outperforming a middle-class child) remains stubbornly rigid. Ultimately, as Pitirim Sorokin rightly concluded, “There has scarcely been any society whose strata were absolutely closed, or in which vertical mobility was absolutely free.” True social mobility requires not just economic growth, but aggressive policies to dismantle entrenched structural inequalities.