5. Социальная мобильность и ее типы

Понятие социальной мобильности было введено П.А. Сорокиным. Человек не остается в одном уровне статуса в течение всей своей жизни; рано или поздно ему предстоит его изменить, перейдя на новую статусную позицию. Такие процессы описываются в социологии понятием социальной мобильности. Социальная мобильность означает перемещение индивидов и групп из одних социальных слоев в другие, что связано с изменением положения индивида или группы в системе социальной стратификации.

Для большинства людей продвинуться вверх по стратификационной лестнице очень трудно. Причина, позволяющая достичь успеха в продвижении вверх по стратификационной лестнице, – социальный статус семьи, уровень образования, национальность, выгодный брак, способности, воспитание, место жительства.

IV Communicative practice

1. Is Russia an open-class society nowadays?

2. Do all people in our country have equall opportunities to get education, to find a well-paid profession?

3. What should a person do to get a higher status? What can help (money, acquaintances, good luck, something else)?

4. Give examples of people who rose or fell in their social status. How and why did they do it?

5. Choosing your spouse, will you take into account the social position of his/her parents?

6. Till recently the word “careerist” has had the negative meaning. But rising in status means making career. What is your opinion about this word?

TestS Units 1, 2

Choose the correct answer

1. The object of sociology:

   1. society

   2. people

   3. social life of society

2. The subject of sociology:

   1. society as a whole

   2. social life of society

   3. people’s world outlook

3. The distinctive intellectual tradition we now call sociology began:

   1. in the 20^th century

   2. in the 17^th century

   3. in the 19^th century

4. The key term of sociology is

   1. mutual changing

   2. society

   3. people

5. The laws of sociology have

   1. permanent

   2. probable

   3. constant

character.

6. What academic discipline focuses on the individual?

   1. psychology

   2. anthropology

   3. sociology

7. To be scientific, the new discipline would have to be based on:

   1. traditional theological explanations

   2. philosophical explanations

   3. the empirical observation of social life

8. The first sociologists tried to explain

   1. how societies appear

   2. how societies change

   3. how societies change and how they stay the same

9. What sociologist was one of the most important contributors to the study of the social origin of knowledge?

   1. Karl Marnheim

   2. Emile Durkheim

   3. Herbert Spencer

10. He is often called the father of modern sociology

    1. Karl Marx

    2. Auguste Comte

    3. Max Weber

11. Emile Durkheim used ideas and metaphors taken from:

    1. psychology studies

    2. biology

    3. economics studies

12. What is studied as indicator of society’s evolution for Durkheim?

    1. changes in the type of legal systems

    2. methods of governing

    3. population density

13. For Durkheim the division of labor his people to each other in what Durkheim called

    1. mechanical solidarity

    2. organic solidarity

    3. social solidarity

14. Herbert Spencer was the most prominent early sociologist writing

    1. in English

    2. in French

    3. in German

15. Herbert Spencer is best known for

    1. analyzing “the more advanced human races”

    2. applying “survival of the fittest”

    3. viewing society from the perspective of the exploited

16. For Spencer acquired characteristics could be

    1. inherited

    2. changed

    3. biologically transmitted to the next generation

17. Karl Marx analyzed society from the vantage point of

    1. the poor

    2. the rich

    3. the workers

18. To Marx the surplus value of workers’ labor was used by

    1. their families

    2. society

    3. capitalists

19. Marx thought that workers could

    1. change nothing

    2. overthrow their exploiters

    3. ask for fair distribution of wealth

20. Marx stressed

    1. the economic arena

    2. religion

    3. politics

21. Weber was interested in studying society at

    1. the macro level

    2. the micro level

    3. at both levels

22. The micro level of sociological analysis is associated with

    1. Karl Marx

    2. George Herbert Mead

    3. Max Weber