PLAN
Introduction
1. The essence of social mobility
2. Forms of social mobility and its consequences
3. Problems of social mobility in Russia in the 20-21st centuries.
Conclusion
Literature
Introduction
Important place in studying social structure are occupied with questions social mobility population, that is, the transition of a person from one class to another, from one intraclass group to another, social movements between generations. Social movements are massive and become more intense as society develops. Sociologists study the nature of social movements, their direction, intensity; movement between classes, generations, cities and regions. They can be positive or negative, encouraged or, conversely, restrained.
In the sociology of social movements, the main stages of a professional career are studied and the social status of parents and children is compared. In our country, for decades, social origin has been placed at the forefront of characterization and biography, and people with worker-peasant roots have been given preference. For example, young people from intelligent families, in order to enter a university, initially went to work for a year or two, get seniority, change social position. Thus, having received a new social status as a worker, they seemed to be cleared of their “defective” social origin. In addition, applicants with work experience received benefits upon admission and were enrolled in the most prestigious specialties with virtually no competition.
The problem of social mobility is also widely studied in Western sociology. Strictly speaking, social mobility is change social status. There is a status - real and imaginary, ascribed. Any person receives a certain status already at birth, depending on his belonging to a certain race, gender, place of birth, and the status of his parents.
In all social systems there are principles of both imaginary and real merit. The more imaginary merits predominate in determining social status, the more rigid the society, the less social mobility (medieval Europe, castes in India). This situation can only be maintained in an extremely simple society, and then only to a certain level. Then it simply slows down social development. The fact is that, according to all the laws of genetics, talented and gifted young people are found equally evenly in all social groups of the population.
The more developed a society is, the more dynamic it is, the more the principles of real status and real merit work in its system. Society is interested in this.
1. The essence of social mobility
Talented individuals are undoubtedly born in all social strata and social classes. If there are no barriers to social achievement, one can expect greater social mobility, with some individuals quickly rising to higher statuses and others falling into lower statuses. But between layers and classes there are barriers that prevent the free transition of individuals between them. status group to another. One of the most important barriers arises from the fact that social classes have subcultures that prepare the children of each class to participate in the class subculture in which they are socialized. An ordinary child from a family of representatives of the creative intelligentsia is less likely to acquire habits and norms that will help him later work as a peasant or worker. The same can be said about the norms that help him in his work as a major leader. Nevertheless, ultimately he can become not only a writer, like his parents, but also a worker or a major leader. It’s just that for advancement from one layer to another or from one social class to another, “the difference in starting opportunities” matters. For example, the sons of a minister and a peasant have different opportunities for obtaining high official status. Therefore, the generally accepted official point of view, which is that to achieve any heights in society you only need to work and have the ability, turns out to be untenable.
The above examples indicate that any social movement does not occur unimpeded, but by overcoming more or less significant barriers. Even moving a person from one place of residence to another presupposes a certain period of adaptation to new conditions.
All social movements of an individual or social group are included in the process of mobility. According to P. Sorokin’s definition, “social mobility is understood as any transition of an individual, or a social object, or a value created or modified through activity, from one social position to another.”
2. Forms of social mobility and its consequences
There are two main types of social mobility: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal social mobility, or movement, means the transition of an individual or social object from a single social group to another located at the same level. The movement of an individual from a Baptist to a Methodist religious group, from one citizenship to another, from one family (both husband and wife) to another during divorce or remarriage, from one factory to another, while maintaining his professional status, - all these are examples of horizontal social mobility. They are also the movements of social objects (radio, car, fashion, the idea of communism, Darwin's theory) within one social layer, like moving from Iowa to California or from a certain place to any other. In all these cases, "movement" can occur without any noticeable change in the social position of the individual or social object in the vertical direction. Vertical social mobility refers to those relationships that arise when an individual or social object moves from one social layer to another. Depending on the direction of movement, there are two types of vertical mobility: ascending and descending, that is, social ascent and social descent. According to the nature of stratification, there are downward and upward currents of economic, political and professional mobility, not to mention other less important types. Updrafts exist in two main forms: penetration an individual from a lower layer to an existing higher layer; or the creation by such individuals of a new group and the penetration of the entire group into a higher layer to the level with already existing groups of this layer. Accordingly, downward currents also have two forms: the first consists in the fall of an individual from a higher social position to a lower one, without destroying the original group to which he previously belonged; another form manifests itself in the degradation of the social group as a whole, in the lowering of its rank against the background of other groups or in the destruction of its social unity. In the first case, the fall reminds us of a person falling from a ship, in the second - the immersion of the ship itself with all the passengers on board or the wreck of a ship when it breaks into pieces.
Cases of individual penetration into higher layers or falling from a high social level to low they are familiar and understandable. They don't need explanation. The second form of social ascension, descent, rise and fall of groups should be considered in more detail.
The following historical examples may serve as illustrations. Historians of the caste society of India tell us that the Brahmin caste has always been in the position of undisputed superiority, which it has occupied for the last two thousand years. In the distant past, the castes of warriors, rulers and kshatriyas were not ranked below the brahmanas, but, as it turns out, they became the highest caste only after a long struggle. If this hypothesis is correct, then the advancement of the rank of the Brahmin caste through all other levels is an example of the second type of social ascent. Before the adoption of Christianity by Constantine the Great, the status of a Christian bishop or Christian minister of worship was low among other social ranks of the Roman Empire. Over the next few centuries, the social position and rank of the Christian church as a whole rose. As a consequence of this rise, members of the clergy and, especially, the highest church dignitaries also rose to the highest strata of medieval society. Conversely, the decline in the authority of the Christian Church in the last two centuries has led to a relative decline in the social ranks of the higher clergy among other ranks modern society. The prestige of the pope or cardinal is still high, but it is undoubtedly lower than it was in the Middle Ages 3 . Another example is a group of legalists in France. Appearing in the 12th century, this group quickly grew in social importance and position. Very soon, in the form of the judicial aristocracy, they reached the position of the nobility. In the 17th and especially in the 18th centuries, the group as a whole began to “descend” and finally disappeared completely in the conflagration of the Great french revolution. The same thing happened during the rise of the agrarian bourgeoisie in the Middle Ages, the privileged Sixth Corps, merchant guilds, and the aristocracy of many royal courts. To occupy a high position in the court of the Romanovs, Habsburgs or Hohenzollerns before the revolution meant having the highest social rank. The "fall" of dynasties led to the "social decline" of the ranks associated with them. The Bolsheviks in Russia before the revolution did not have any particularly recognized high position. During the revolution, this group overcame a huge social distance and occupied the most high position in Russian society. As a result, all its members as a whole were raised to the status previously occupied by the royal aristocracy. Similar phenomena are observed from the perspective of pure economic stratification. Thus, before the advent of the era of “oil” or “automobile”, being a famous industrialist in these areas did not mean being an industrial and financial tycoon. The wide distribution of industries made them the most important industrial areas. Accordingly, to be a leading industrialist - an oilman or a motorist - means to be one of the most influential leaders in industry and finance. All of these examples illustrate a second collective form of upward and downward currents in social mobility.
From a quantitative point of view, it is necessary to distinguish between the intensity and universality of vertical mobility. Under intensity refers to the vertical social distance or the number of layers - economic, professional or political - traversed by an individual in his upward or downward movement over a certain period of time. If, for example, a certain individual rises in a year from the position of a person with an annual income of $500 to a position with an income of $50,000, and another during the same period rises from the same starting position to a level of $1,000, then in the first case the intensity of economic recovery will be 50 times greater than in the second. For a corresponding change, the intensity of vertical mobility can be measured in the field of political and professional stratification.
Under universality Vertical mobility refers to the number of individuals who have changed their social position in a vertical direction over a certain period of time. The absolute number of such individuals gives absolute universality vertical mobility in the structure of a given population of the country; the proportion of such individuals to the entire population gives relative universality vertical mobility.
Finally, by combining the intensity and relative universality of vertical mobility in a certain social sphere (say, in the economy), one can obtain the aggregate indicator of vertical economic mobility of a given society. Comparing, therefore, one society with another or the same society in different periods of its development, it is possible to discover in which of them or in which period the aggregate mobility is higher. The same can be said about the aggregate indicator of political and professional vertical mobility.
3. Problems of social mobility in Russia in the 20-21st centuries.
The process of transition from an economy based on an administrative-bureaucratic way of managing social production and distribution to an economy based on market relations, and from the monopoly power of the party nomenklatura to representative democracy is extremely painful and slow. Strategic and tactical miscalculations in the radical transformation of social relations are aggravated by the peculiarities of the economic potential created in the USSR with its structural asymmetry, monopolism, technological backwardness, etc.
All this was reflected in the social stratification of Russian society in the transition period. To analyze it and understand its features, it is necessary to consider the social structure of the Soviet period. In Soviet scientific literature, in accordance with the requirements of official ideology, a view was affirmed from the position of a three-member structure: two friendly classes (the worker and the collective farm peasantry), as well as a social stratum - the people's intelligentsia. Moreover, in this layer, representatives of the party and state elite, a rural teacher, and a library worker seemed to be on equal terms.
This approach veiled the existing differentiation of society and created the illusion of society moving towards social equality.
Of course, in real life This was far from the case; Soviet society was hierarchized, and in a very specific way. According to Western and many Russian sociologists, it was not so much a social-class society as an estate-caste society. The dominance of state property has turned the overwhelming mass of the population into hired workers of the state, alienated from this property.
The decisive role in the location of groups on the social ladder was played by their political potential, determined by their place in the party-state hierarchy.
The highest level in Soviet society was occupied by the party-state nomenklatura, which united the highest layers of the party, state, economic and military bureaucracy. Not being formally the owner of national wealth, it had a monopoly and uncontrolled right to its use and distribution. The nomenklatura has endowed itself with a wide range of benefits and advantages. It was essentially a closed class-type layer, not interested in the growth of numbers, its specific gravity was small - 1.5 - 2% of the country's population.
A step lower was the layer that served the nomenklatura, workers engaged in the field of ideology, the party press, as well as the scientific elite, prominent artists.
The next step was occupied by a layer that was, to one degree or another, involved in the function of distribution and use of national wealth. These included government officials who distributed scarce social benefits, heads of enterprises, collective farms, state farms, workers in logistics, trade, the service sector, etc.
It is hardly legitimate to classify these layers as the middle class, since they did not have the economic and political independence characteristic of this class.
Of interest is the analysis of the multidimensional social structure of Soviet society in the 40s and 50s, given by the American sociologist A. Inkels (1974). He views it as a pyramid, including 9 strata.
At the top is the ruling elite (party-state nomenklatura, senior military officials).
In second place is the highest layer of the intelligentsia (prominent figures of literature and art, scientists). Possessing significant privileges, they did not have the power that the upper stratum had.
Quite high - third place was given to the “aristocracy of the working class”. These are Stakhanovites, “lighthouses”, shock workers of the five-year plans. This layer also had great privileges and high prestige in society. It was he who personified “decorative” democracy: his representatives were deputies of the Supreme Soviets of the country and republics, members of the CPSU Central Committee (but were not part of the party nomenklatura).
Fifth place was occupied by “white collar workers” (small managers and office workers who, as a rule, did not have a higher education).
The sixth layer is “prosperous peasants” who worked on advanced collective farms, where special working conditions were created. In order to form “exemplary” farms, they were allocated additional state financial and material and technical resources, which made it possible to provide more high performance labor and standard of living.
In seventh place were workers of medium and low qualifications. Number of members this group was quite large.
Eighth place was occupied by the “poorest strata of the peasantry” (and these constituted the majority). And finally, at the bottom of the social ladder there were prisoners who were deprived of almost all rights. This layer was very significant and consisted of several million people.
It must be admitted that the presented hierarchical structure of Soviet society is very close to the reality that existed.
Studying the social structure of Soviet society in the second half of the 80s, domestic sociologists T. I. Zaslavskaya and R. V. Ryvkina identified 12 groups. Along with the workers (this layer is represented by three differentiated groups), the collective farm peasantry, the scientific, technical and humanitarian intelligentsia, they identify the following groups: political leaders of society, responsible employees of the political administration apparatus, responsible employees of trade and consumer services, a group of organized crime, etc. How we see that this is far from the classical “three-membered” model; a multidimensional model is used here. Of course, this division is very arbitrary; the real social structure “goes into the shadows”, since, for example, a huge layer of real production relations turns out to be illegal, hidden in informal connections and decisions.
In the context of a radical transformation of Russian society, profound changes are taking place in its social stratification, which have a number of characteristic features.
Firstly, there is a total marginalization of Russian society. It can be assessed and its social consequences can only be predicted based on the totality of specific processes and conditions in which this phenomenon operates.
For example, marginalization caused by the mass transition from lower to higher strata of society, i.e., upward mobility (although it has certain costs), can generally be assessed positively.
Marginalization, which is characterized by a transition to the lower strata (with downward mobility), if it is also long-term and widespread, leads to severe social consequences.
In our society we see both upward and downward mobility. But what is alarming is that the latter has acquired a “landslide” character. Particular attention should be paid to the growing layer of marginalized people, knocked out of their socio-cultural environment and turned into a lumpen layer (beggars, homeless people, tramps, etc.).
The next feature is the blocking of the process of formation of the middle class. IN Soviet period in Russia there was a significant segment of the population that represented a potential middle class (intelligentsia, office workers, highly skilled workers). However, the transformation of these layers into the middle class does not occur; there is no process of “class crystallization.”
The fact is that it is these layers that have descended (and this process continues) into the lower class, being on the verge of poverty or below it. First of all, this applies to the intelligentsia. Here we are faced with a phenomenon that can be called the phenomenon of the “new poor”, an exceptional phenomenon that has probably not been encountered in any society in the history of civilization. Both in pre-revolutionary Russia and in developing countries of any region modern world, not to mention, of course, developed countries, she had and still has a fairly high prestige in society, her financial situation (even in poor countries) is at the proper level, allowing her to lead a decent lifestyle.
Today in Russia the share of contributions to science, education, healthcare, and culture in the budget is catastrophically decreasing. The wages of scientific, scientific and pedagogical personnel, medical workers, cultural workers are increasingly lagging behind the national average, not providing a subsistence level, but for certain categories a physiological minimum. And since almost all of our intelligentsia are “budgetary,” impoverishment is inevitably approaching them.
There is a reduction scientific workers, many specialists move into commercial structures (a huge share of which are trade intermediaries) and are disqualified. The prestige of education in society is falling. The consequence may be a violation of the necessary reproduction of the social structure of society.
A similar situation found itself in the layer of highly skilled workers associated with advanced technologies and employed primarily in the military-industrial complex.
As a result, the lower class in Russian society currently constitutes approximately 70% of the population.
There is a growth of the upper class (compared to the upper class of Soviet society). It consists of several groups. Firstly, these are large entrepreneurs, owners of capital of various types (financial, commercial, industrial). Secondly, these are government officials related to state material and financial resources, their distribution and transfer to private hands, as well as overseeing the activities of parastatal and private enterprises and institutions.
It should be emphasized that a significant part of this layer in Russia consists of representatives of the former nomenklatura, who have retained their places in government government structures.
The majority of apparatchiks today realize that the market is economically inevitable; moreover, they are interested in the emergence of a market. But we are not talking about the “European” market with unconditional private property, but about the “Asian” market - with truncated reformed private property, where the main right (the right of disposal) would remain in the hands of the bureaucracy.
Thirdly, these are the heads of state and semi-state (JSC) enterprises (“director corps”), in conditions of lack of control both from below and from above, assign themselves extremely high salaries, bonuses and take advantage of the privatization and corporatization of enterprises.
Finally, these are representatives of criminal structures that are closely intertwined with business ones (or collect “tribute” from them), and are also increasingly intertwined with government structures.
We can highlight another feature of the stratification of Russian society - social polarization, which is based on property stratification, which continues to deepen.
Ratio wages The 10% of the highest paid and 10% of the lowest paid Russians was 16:1 in 1992, and in 1993 it was already 26:1. For comparison: in 1989 this ratio in the USSR was 4:1, in the USA - 6:1, in Latin American countries - 12:1. According to official data, the richest 20% of Russians appropriate 43% of total cash income, the poorest 20% - 7%.
There are several options for dividing Russians by level of material security.
According to them, at the top there is a narrow layer of the super-rich (3-5%), then a layer of the averagely wealthy (7% according to these calculations and 12-15% according to others), finally, the poor (25% and 40%, respectively) and the poor ( 65% and 40% respectively).
The consequence of property polarization is inevitably social and political confrontation in the country and increasing social tension. If this trend continues, it could lead to deep social upheaval.
Particular attention should be paid to the characteristics of the working class and peasantry. They now represent an extremely heterogeneous mass, not only according to traditional criteria (qualifications, education, industry, etc.), but also according to their form of ownership and income.
In the working class there is a deep differentiation associated with the attitude towards one or another form of property - state, joint, cooperative, joint stock, individual, etc. Between the corresponding layers of the working class, differences in income, labor productivity, economic and political interests, etc. etc. If the interests of workers employed at state-owned enterprises are primarily in increasing tariffs and providing financial support from the state, then the interests of workers in non-state enterprises are in reducing taxes, expanding freedom of economic activity, legal support her, etc.
The position of the peasantry also changed. Along with collective farm property, joint-stock, individual and other forms of ownership arose. Transformation processes in agriculture have proven to be extremely complex. The attempt to blindly copy Western experience in terms of massively replacing collective farms with private farms failed because it was initially voluntaristic and did not take into account the deep specifics of Russian conditions. Material and technical equipment Agriculture, infrastructure development, opportunity state support farms, legal insecurity, and finally, the mentality of the people - taking into account all these components is a necessary condition effective reforms and neglecting them cannot but give a negative result.
At the same time, for example, the level of government support for agriculture is constantly falling. If before 1985 it was 12-15%, then in 1991 - 1993. - 7-10%. For comparison: government subsidies in farmers' income during this period in the EU countries amounted to 49%, the USA - 30%, Japan - 66%, Finland - 71%.
The peasantry as a whole is now considered to be the conservative part of society (which is confirmed by the voting results). But if we are faced with resistance from “social material,” the reasonable solution is not to blame the people, not to use forceful methods, but to look for errors in the strategy and tactics of transformation.
Thus, if we depict the stratification of modern Russian society graphically, it will represent a pyramid with a powerful base represented by the lower class.
Such a profile cannot but cause concern. If the bulk of the population is the lower class, if the middle class stabilizing society is thinned, the consequence will be an increase in social tension with the forecast of resulting in an open struggle for the redistribution of wealth and power. The pyramid may topple over.
Russia is now in a transitional state, at a sharp turning point. The spontaneously developing process of stratification poses a threat to the stability of society. It is necessary, using the expression of T. Parsons, for an “external invasion” of power into the emerging system of rational placement of social positions with all the ensuing consequences, when the natural profile of stratification becomes the key to both the stability and progressive development of society.
Conclusion
Analysis of the hierarchical structure of society shows that it is not frozen, it constantly fluctuates and moves both horizontally and vertically. When we talk about a social group or individual changing their social position, we are dealing with social mobility. It can be horizontal (the concept of social movement is used) if there is a transition to other professional or other groups of equal status. Vertical (upward) mobility means the transition of an individual or group to a higher social position with greater prestige, income, and power.
Downward mobility is also possible, involving movement to lower hierarchical positions.
During periods of revolutions and social cataclysms, a radical change in the social structure occurs, a radical replacement of the upper layer with the overthrow of the former elite, the emergence of new classes and social groups, and mass group mobility.
During stable periods, social mobility increases during periods of economic restructuring. At the same time, education, the role of which is increasing in the conditions of transition from an industrial society to an information society, is an important “social elevator” that ensures vertical mobility.
Social mobility is a fairly reliable indicator of the level of “openness” or “closedness” of a society. A striking example of a “closed” society is the caste system in India. A high degree of closedness is characteristic of feudal society. On the contrary, bourgeois-democratic societies, being open, are characterized by a high level of social mobility. However, it should be noted that here, too, vertical social mobility is not absolutely free and the transition from one social layer to another, higher one, is not carried out without resistance.
Social mobility places an individual in the need to adapt to a new sociocultural environment. This process can be quite difficult. A person who has lost the sociocultural world familiar to him, but has failed to perceive the norms and values of the new group, finds himself, as it were, on the verge of two cultures, becoming a marginalized person. This is also typical for migrants, both ethnic and territorial. In such conditions, a person experiences discomfort and stress. Mass marginality gives rise to serious social problems. As a rule, it distinguishes societies at sharp turning points in history. This is precisely the period Russia is currently experiencing.
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The concept of “social mobility” was introduced by P. Sorokin. Social mobility means the movement of individuals and groups from one social strata, communities to others, which is associated with a change in the position of the individual or group in the system of social stratification, i.e. we are talking about a change in social status.
Vertical mobility- this is a change in the position of an individual that causes an increase or decrease in his social status, a transition to a higher or lower class position.
It distinguishes between ascending and descending branches (for example, career and lumpenization). In developed countries of the world, the upward branch of vertical mobility exceeds the downward branch by 20%. However, most people, starting their working career at the same level as their parents, move forward only slightly (most often, by 1-2 steps).
a) Ascending intergenerational mobility.
Intergenerational mobility presupposes that children occupy a different position in relation to the position of their parents.
For example, the parents are peasants, and the son is an academician; the father is a factory worker, and the son is a bank manager. In both the first and second cases, it is understood that children have more high level income, social prestige, education and power.
b) Downward group mobility.
Group mobility is a change in the social status of an entire class, estate, caste, group. As a rule, with group mobility, movements occur due to some objective reasons, and at the same time there is a radical change in the entire way of life and a change in the stratification system itself.
For example, the change in the position of the nobility and bourgeoisie in Russia as a result of the revolution of 1917. As a result of various types of repression (from forced confiscation of property to physical destruction), the hereditary aristocracy and bourgeoisie lost their leading positions.
c) Group geographical.
Horizontal mobility implies the transition of an individual from one social group to another located at the same level (for example, changing jobs while maintaining the same salary, level of power and prestige).
Geographic mobility, which is not associated with a change in status or group, is a type of horizontal mobility. For example, group tourism. Tourist trips of Russian citizens, for example, to Europe in order to get acquainted with historical and cultural attractions.
If a change of location is added to a change of status, as in the example discussed above, then geographic mobility turns into migration.
Migration can be voluntary. For example, the mass migration of villagers to the city, or the mass exodus of Jews under the leadership of Moses from Egypt in search of the Promised Land, described in the Bible.
Migration can also be forced. For example, the resettlement of the Volga German diaspora during the reign of I.V. Stalin to the territory of Kazakhstan.
Social mobility can be vertical and horizontal.
At horizontal mobility social movement of individuals and social groups occurs in other, but equal in status social communities. These can be considered moving from government to private structures, moving from one enterprise to another, etc. Varieties of horizontal mobility are: territorial (migration, tourism, relocation from village to city), professional (change of profession), religious (change of religion) , political (transition from one political party to another).
At vertical mobility is happening ascending And descending movement of people. An example of such mobility is the reduction of workers from the “hegemon” in the USSR to simple class in today's Russia and, conversely, the rise of speculators into the middle and upper class. Vertical social movements are associated, firstly, with profound changes in the socio-economic structure of society, the emergence of new classes, social groups striving to achieve a higher social status, and secondly, with a change in ideological guidelines, systems of values and norms , political priorities. In this case, there is a movement to the top of those political forces that were able to perceive changes in the mentality, orientations and ideals of the population.
To quantitatively characterize social mobility, indicators of its speed are used. Under speed social mobility refers to vertical social distance and the number of strata (economic, professional, political, etc.) that individuals pass through in their upward or downward movement over a certain period of time. For example, after graduating from college, a young specialist can take the position of senior engineer or head of department, etc., within several years.
Intensity social mobility is characterized by the number of individuals changing social positions in a vertical or horizontal position over a certain period of time. The number of such individuals gives absolute intensity of social mobility. For example, during the years of reforms in post-Soviet Russia (1992-1998), up to one third of the “Soviet intelligentsia”, who made up the middle class of Soviet Russia, became “shuttle traders”.
Aggregate index social mobility includes its speed and intensity. In this way, one society can be compared with another to find out (1) in which one or (2) in which period social mobility is higher or lower in all respects. Such an index can be calculated separately for economic, professional, political and other social mobility. Social mobility - important characteristic dynamic development of society. Those societies where the aggregate index of social mobility is higher develop much more dynamically, especially if this index relates to the governing strata.
Social (group) mobility is associated with the emergence of new social groups and affects the ratio of the main social strata, whose status no longer corresponds to the existing hierarchy. By the middle of the 20th century, managers of large enterprises, for example, became such a group. Based on this fact, Western sociology developed the concept of a “revolution of managers” (J. Bernheim). According to it, the administrative stratum begins to play a decisive role not only in the economy, but also in social life, complementing and displacing the class of owners of the means of production (captains).
Vertical social movements are intensive during times of structural restructuring of the economy. The emergence of new prestigious, highly paid professional groups contributes to mass movement up the ladder of social status. The decline in the social status of the profession, the disappearance of some of them provokes not only a downward movement, but also the emergence of marginal layers that lose their usual position in society and lose the achieved level of consumption. There is an erosion of the values and norms that previously united them and determined their stable place in the social hierarchy.
Marginalized - These are social groups that have lost their previous social status, are deprived of the opportunity to engage in usual activities, and have found themselves unable to adapt to the new sociocultural (value and normative) environment. Their old values and norms were not supplanted by new norms and values. The efforts of marginalized people to adapt to new conditions give rise to psychological stress. The behavior of such people is characterized by extremes: they are either passive or aggressive, and also easily violate moral standards and are capable of unpredictable actions. A typical leader of the marginalized in post-Soviet Russia is V. Zhirinovsky.
During periods of acute social cataclysms and fundamental changes in the social structure, an almost complete renewal of the upper echelons of society can occur. Thus, the events of 1917 in our country led to the overthrow of the old ruling classes (nobility and bourgeoisie) and the rapid rise of a new ruling layer (the communist party bureaucracy) with nominally socialist values and norms. Such a radical replacement of the upper stratum of society always takes place in an atmosphere of extreme confrontation and tough struggle.
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.
For the first time, the general principles of 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 according to different channels. The most important of them are the following social institutions: the army, the 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 performed not only social institutions, regulating vertical movements, as well as the subculture, the way of life of each layer, allowing 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 the political elite, the institution of property and inheritance strengthens the owner 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 with nervous breakdowns, the 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 change 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 geographical 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 of a group nature, but of an individual nature, 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, changes in political regimes as a result of revolutions, military coups, reforms, replacement of the old constitution with a new one, peasant uprisings, interstate wars, internecine struggles 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 in the political elite occurs; 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 are ample opportunities for territorial mobility, including across country borders, 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 of 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, and a minister of the engineering industry. Moving out of the sphere physical labor into the realm of the mental.
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 of the national economy and occurs beyond the will and consciousness of 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 various statuses exists in 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. First decisive factor 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.
Literature
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Horizontal mobility is the transition of an individual from one social group to another, located at the same level (example: moving from an Orthodox to a Catholic religious group, from one citizenship to another). There is a distinction between individual mobility - the movement of one person independently of others, and group mobility - movement occurs collectively. In addition, geographic mobility is distinguished - moving from one place to another while maintaining the same status (example: international and interregional tourism, moving from city to village and back). As a type of geographic mobility, the concept of migration is distinguished - moving from one place to another with a change in status (example: a person moved to a city for permanent residence and changed profession). And it is similar to castes.
Vertical mobility
Vertical mobility is the advancement of a person up or down the career ladder.
§ Upward mobility - social rise, upward movement (For example: promotion).
§ Downward mobility - social descent, downward movement (For example: demotion).
Generational mobility
Intergenerational mobility is a comparative change in social status among different generations (example: a worker's son becomes president).
Intragenerational mobility (social career) - a change in status within one generation (example: a turner becomes an engineer, then a shop manager, then a plant director). Vertical and horizontal mobility are influenced by gender, age, birth rate, death rate, and population density. In general, men and the young are more mobile than women and the elderly. Overpopulated countries more often experience the consequences of emigration (relocation from one country to another due to economic, political, personal circumstances) than immigration (moving to a region for permanent or temporary residence of citizens from another region). Where the birth rate is high, the population is younger and therefore more mobile, and vice versa.
10) The concept of social control
Social control
Social control- a system of methods and strategies by which society directs the behavior of individuals. In the ordinary sense, social control comes down to a system of laws and sanctions with the help of which an individual coordinates his behavior with the expectations of others and his own expectations from the surrounding social world.
Sociology and psychology have always sought to reveal the mechanism of internal social control.
Types of Social Control
There are two types of social control processes:
§ processes that encourage individuals to internalize existing social norms, processes of socialization of family and school education, during which the requirements of society - social regulations - are internalized;
§ processes that organize the social experience of individuals, the lack of publicity in society, publicity is a form of social control over the behavior of the ruling strata and groups;
11) The main problems of the sociology of advertising
Home The problem of the sociology of advertising is the influence of advertising on the social system in societal perception and the influence social system on advertising in a specifically historical aspect. These are two aspects of the same process. The first aspect is associated with understanding how advertising images created to promote goods, services, ideas influence society itself, how advertising changes its cultural and moral foundations; Can advertising change the social atmosphere or cultural paradigms of a particular society, or is it designed to promote only what already exists in everyday life? All these questions, in their broader formulation, are about the role of communicative institutions in public life, have been actively discussed since the beginning of the twentieth century, when the means mass media began to rapidly invade public life. It cannot be said that these issues have now been resolved.
At the same time, one cannot help but emphasize another aspect of the problem of the relationship between society and advertising, namely the influence of social processes on the functioning of advertising as public institution. Why, for example, under the conditions of the functioning of the Soviet social system, advertising as a public institution was practically absent, and the emergence of the rudiments of a market social mechanism led to the institutionalization of advertising? What happens to advertising in times of crisis in the social system? What content is filled with advertising space during periods of political instability?
That is, one of the main problems of the sociology of advertising is related to the study of mechanisms, patterns of functioning of advertising as a social institution, its influence on society and the reverse impact of society on advertising.
Second a block of problems, which is closely related to the first, arises in connection with the influence of advertising on individual institutions of society and the impact of these institutions on various types of advertising activities. For example, how advertising affects the family and how family life affects the methods and means of disseminating advertising information. Of undoubted interest are the problems of the influence of advertising on educational institutions of society. And, of course, advertisers are very interested in how changes in the educational sphere will affect the functioning of certain types of advertising practice: advertising on television, in the press, on radio, etc.
Particularly important in this regard is the problem of the influence of advertising on the media, since it is the media that are the main carriers of advertising. How, for example, will the emergence of interactive television affect changes in advertising practice? Or a functional merging of TV and computer?
Forecasting the development of the media as advertising media is very important, since it allows us to predict the development advertising market, distribution and redistribution of financial flows between various subjects of the advertising industry.
Thus, predicting changes in social institutions and the impact of these changes on the forms, methods, and means of advertising distribution is one of the main problems of the sociology of advertising.
Third a block of problems is associated with the influence of advertising on certain social processes. As you know, society is a constantly developing social organism. The main vector of development is set by individual constant social processes. In particular, one of these essential processes is social mobility. Advertising significantly changes the perception of mobility in the public consciousness, moving this problem from the sphere of material production to the sphere of consumption.
No less important is the process of legitimation of power institutions of society. It is largely associated with political advertising, the ability of specialists in the field of political technologies, using the mechanisms and means of political marketing, to establish democratic institutions of society.
It is also important here to emphasize the need to analyze the influence of advertising on the process of integration and disintegration of the social system.
Fourth a block of problems can be described using the concepts of “mentality”, “ national character", "advertising and cultural stereotypes", " domestic advertising", "foreign advertising". In other words, we are talking about the relationship between advertising influence and the culture of a particular society, the influence of culture on advertising and advertising on the culture of a particular society. In a practical sense, this means: what is the effectiveness of foreign advertising spots, of which there are quite a lot on domestic television? Are they rejected by the mass consciousness because they do not take into account the national culture and mentality of domestic consumers? What should be the advertising message designed for the so-called “new Russian” or a housewife who is not burdened with a tight wallet? In general, problems mentality and advertising, culture and advertising, national stereotypes and advertising constitute a significant block of issues included in the subject field of the sociology of advertising.
If we translate all the above questions from a fairly high philosophical level to an operational level related to the practical activities of a sociologist, then we can say that when studying advertising as a social institution, he is interested in: how advertising influences people's behavior, how advertising influences public sentiment, how advertising influences the integration of public life, how advertising influences social mobility, how advertising influences the legitimation of power, what system of symbols does advertising rely on, what mechanisms of influence does it use, with what efficiency.
12) The main problems of sociology and culture
13) The main problems of the sociology of education
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