Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Social mobility
(2,416 words)

1. Definition

Social mobility is usually seen as movement between different socio-economic strata of a society, that is, a change between social classes. Social mobility – rise or decline – may be studied in three aspects of life: in comparison to one’s parents (intergenerational mobility), over the course of one’s lifetime (Curriculum vitae; intragenerational mobility), or change of class through matrimony (exogamy or marital mobility). The so-called class system of the first c…

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Leeuwen, Marco H.D. van and Lesger, Clé, “Social mobility”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 01 October 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_027697>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180208



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