What social lifts, according to Sorokin, contribute. Social lift: concept, examples. Questions and tasks to the source

1. The essence of this concept.

An example of vertical mobility is the transition of a person from the position of an ordinary school teacher to the position of a school principal. An example of horizontal mobility is moving from a teaching position in one school to a teaching position in another school. P. Sorokin became the founder of the theory of social mobility and named the main lifts of vertical mobility.

2. group mobility

You can make a career alone or in a group. There is individual and group mobility. When there are caste, racial, or estate privileges and restrictions on individual mobility, then members of the lower castes, estates, and races may try to stage a rebellion in order to achieve the removal of these restrictions and, as a group, climb up the rungs of the social ladder. This type of personality, like a theorist, always tries to make a career alone, so he is the least successful in an administrative career. Examples group mobility :

· The conflict of cliques for power within the bureaucratic pyramid, for example, the clique of Beria and Malenkov defeated the Zhdanov clique in the framework of the “Leningrad affair”.

· In ancient India, the caste of brahmins (priests) achieved superiority over the caste of kshatriyas (warriors). This became an example of the collective ascent of the Brahmins.

· The Bolsheviks were outcasts before the October Revolution, during the revolution they overcame a huge social distance, as a result they all together rose to the status that the tsarist aristocracy had previously occupied. This serves as an example of the collective ascent of the Bolsheviks.

· The social status of the Pope and bishops has declined over the past three centuries. This is an example of collective indulgence.

· The status of African Americans in America has risen over the past 150 years as a result of the abolition of slavery and their civil rights.

· The status of women in the developed world has risen over the past 100 years as a result of their civil rights.

· The status of the working class over the past 100 years has increased as a result of its representatives receiving civil rights, the right to strike and various benefits (for unemployment, for sickness, for old age, for disability).

3. Mobile and immobile types of societies.

In a mobile type of society, the degree of vertical mobility is very high, and in a fixed type of society, it is very small. An example of the second kind is the caste system in India, although the degree of vertical mobility is never 0, even in ancient India. The degree of vertical mobility should be limited. On each "floor" there must be a "sieve" that sifts through individuals, otherwise people who are unsuitable for this role may turn out to be in leadership positions, and the whole society may die because of this during the war or as a result of the lack of reforms. The degree of vertical mobility can be measured, for example, by the proportion of "upstarts" among rulers and senior officials, calculated as a percentage. These "upstarts" began their careers from among the poor and ended up as rulers. Sorokin showed the difference between countries in terms of the degree of vertical mobility:

Western Roman Empire -45.6%

Eastern Roman Empire -27.7%

Russia before the October Revolution -5.5%

France -3.9%

England -5%

USA -48.3%

Presidents of France and Germany -23.1%

4. Sieve testing.

In any society, there are many who want to move up, but few manage to achieve this goal, because. this is prevented by "sieves" on each floor of the social hierarchy. When a person comes to get a job, he is evaluated according to several criteria:

· family background . A good family is able to give its child a good heredity and a good level of education. In practice, this criterion was applied in Sparta, Ancient Rome, Assyria, Egypt, Ancient India and China, where the son inherited the status and profession of his father. The modern family is unstable, therefore, today the norm is beginning to take shape to evaluate a person not by family origin, but by personal qualities. Even Peter 1 in Russia introduced a table of ranks, according to which promotion did not depend on "breed", but on personal merit.

· The level of education . The function of the school is not only to “inject” knowledge, but also to determine, with the help of examinations and observations, who is talented and who is not, in order to weed out the latter. If the school tests the intellect of students, then the church tests moral qualities. Heretics and pagans were not allowed to positions of responsibility.

Professional organizations recheck compliance abilities of a person's entry in the diploma of education, they test the specific qualities of people: voice for a singer, strength for a wrestler, etc. At work, every day and every hour becomes an exam for professional suitability for a person. This test can be considered final.

5. What does the overproduction or underproduction of the elite lead to?

There is an optimal ratio of the number of people in the elite and the entire population. An overproduction of the number of people in the elite leads to a civil war or revolution. For example, the sultan in Turkey had a large harem and many sons who ruthlessly began to destroy each other after the death of the sultan in the struggle for the throne. The overproduction of the elite in modern society leads to the fact that the losers from the elite begin to organize underground organizations with the aim of armed seizure of power.

The underproduction of the elite due to the low birth rate among the upper strata leads to the need to give some of the elite positions to people who have not passed the selection. This causes social instability and deep contradictions within the elite between "degenerates" and "upstarts". For example, the contradictions between the "upstarts" (Ekaterina 1, Menshikov, Golovkin, Yaguzhinsky, Tolstoy) and the "degenerates" (princes Dolgoruky, Golitsyn, Repnin) after the death of Peter 1 led to a series of armed palace coups. Too strict control in the selection of the elite often leads to a complete stop of the “elevators”, to the degeneration of the elite and to the “subversive” activity of low-ranking rulers by vocation, who cannot make a legal career and seek to physically destroy the “degenerates” and take their elite positions.

6. Choice of vertical mobility elevators for different personality types.

The choice of a social mobility elevator is of great importance in choosing a profession and in recruiting personnel. P. A. Sorokin named eight elevators by which people move up or down the steps of the social ladder in the course of their personal career. The theory of personality types allows you to make recommendations for choosing these elevators. A psychologist and a technician are complete opposites to each other, a speaker and a theorist are also opposites to each other, therefore it is strictly forbidden for a technician to choose elevators recommended for a psychologist, and for a speaker - elevators for a theorist. In a pinch, the speaker may choose the lifts recommended for the psychologist and technician, but the speaker will always be somewhat inferior to these types in professional terms when using their lifts. Other types - respectively.

Thus, there are eight vertical mobility elevators:

· Army . 36 Roman emperors (Caesar, Augustus, etc.) out of 92 achieved their position through military service. 12 of the 65 Byzantine emperors achieved their status for the same reason. This elevator is for speakers. Speakers are better than other types of personality who know how to control soldiers, have a penchant for adventurism, and are able to make the right decision in a short time and in the absence of complete information about the situation. All the great commanders were speakers - Alexander the Great, Caesar, Napoleon, Alexander Nevsky, Suvorov, Kutuzov, Cromwell, Zhukov. The emergence of a large number of sophisticated equipment in the modern army has opened up employment opportunities for technicians in secondary roles.

· Church . The significance of this lift reached its peak in the Middle Ages, when the bishop was also a landlord, when the Pope of Rome could dismiss kings and emperors, for example, Pope Gregory 7 in 1077 deposed, humiliated and excommunicated the German emperor Henry 7. Of 144 28 popes were of simple origin, 27 came from the middle classes. The institution of celibacy forbade Catholic priests to marry and have children, therefore, after their death, new people occupied the vacant positions, which prevented the formation of a hereditary oligarchy and accelerated the process of vertical mobility. The Prophet Muhammad was at first a simple merchant, and then became the ruler of Arabia. This elevator is for psychologists. In the church, only men are selected for the role of priests, so female psychologists are forced to realize their abilities in a monastery, sect, witchcraft and black magic. Psychologists, unlike other personality types, have a penchant for spirituality and a fanatical belief in supernatural forces. The leadership of the church is sometimes infiltrated by speakers who are completely devoid of fanaticism. All the founders of religion - Christ, Mohammed, Buddha - were psychologists.

· School and scientific organizations . In ancient China, the school was the main elevator in society. According to the recommendations of Confucius, a system of educational selection (selection) was built. Schools were open to all classes, the best students were transferred to higher schools, and then to universities, from there the best students got into the government and to the highest state and military posts. There was no hereditary aristocracy. The Mandarin government in China was a government of intellectuals who knew how to write literary compositions, but did not understand business and did not know how to fight, so China more than once became an easy prey for nomads (Mongols and Manchus) and European colonizers. In modern society, business and politics should be the main elevators. The school elevator was also of great importance in Turkey under Suleiman the Magnificent (1522-1566), when talented children from all over the country were sent to special schools, then to the Janissary corps, and then to the guards and the state apparatus. In ancient India, the lower castes did not have the right to receive education, i.e. the school elevator moved only on the upper floors. Today in the United States, one cannot hold a public office without a university degree. Of the 829 British geniuses, 71 were the sons of unskilled workers. 4% of Russian academicians came from the peasantry, for example, Lomonosov. This elevator is designed for theorists, they are the ones who are able to learn from the heart. Students-speakers do not like to study or study only for the sake of good grades, therefore it is the speakers who are the organizers of the disruption of the lesson. Technicians are nerds. Psychologists tend to beg the teacher for good grades. In science, there is the following division of labor: the role of the creators of theories is for theoreticians, the role of the experimenter is for technicians. Speakers prone to plagiarism remain the role of the organizer of scientific conferences, and psychologists the role of a utopian. All the great scientists - Euclid, Archimedes, Aristotle, Newton, Lomonosov, Comte - were theorists. All inventors in the field of engineering, such as Faraday and Edison, were technicians. All utopians, such as Plato and Marx, were psychologists.

· Political lift, i.e. government groups and parties. The first class in politics is the speaker, the second class is the psychologist, the third class is the technician, the fourth class is the theorist. It is speakers who know how to win in such types of political conflict as elections, insurrection and civil war. It is the speakers who know how to manage a political party and command an armed detachment. The psychologist has the highest level of skill in organizing conspiracies, political assassinations, terrorist acts, behind-the-scenes struggle of bureaucratic cliques. The role of the tyrant is reserved for the psychologist. A technician is able to gain power only by inheritance or patronage. The role of an official is reserved for a technician. The role of the ruler's adviser is reserved for the theorist. Speakers in politics are "lions", psychologists are "foxes", technicians are conservatives, theorists are reformers. Yeltsin, Gorbachev, Khrushchev, Lenin, Peter 1, Catherine 2, Bill Clinton, Churchill, Mussolini, Zhirinovsky, Luzhkov, Nemtsov are examples of political speakers. Stalin, Hitler, Ivan the Terrible, Nero, Caligula, Brezhnev are examples of psychologists in politics. Putin, Molotov, Kosygin, Nikolai 2, Bush, Nikolai 1, Alexander 3 are examples of technicians in politics. Gaidar, Gref, Novodvorskaya, Sakharov, Sobchak are examples of political theorists.

· Art or, in other words, showlift . Among France's most famous men of letters, 13% were from a working class background. This elevator is intended for psychologists and partly for speakers.

· Print, television, radio . Newspapers and television can provide publicity and promotion. This information elevator and journalistic profession is designed for speakers who are fluent in the popular style of presentation, are in close acquaintance with a large number of people, are aware of all the rumors, and have oratorical skills. Technicians and psychologists are second rate in journalism. The technician can be entrusted with the role of an announcer who is able to read someone else's text on a piece of paper with expression. A psychologist can be trusted with a sympathetic presentation of the biographies of great personalities, a description of their inner world, an overview of the world of art. The information elevator is a very slippery and fast elevator, with this elevator you can fly up or slide down in one day. For example, many pop stars became popular after performing only one hit on television, and some ministers lost their posts after showing compromising materials on television about their adventures in a brothel or about their connection with the mafia.

· Economic organizations or business lift . The accumulation of wealth is the most reliable way to the top in the conditions of compliance with the law, in conditions of social cataclysms, wealth can be easily taken away. A poor aristocrat is not able to maintain social prestige. In ancient Rome, such rich enterprising slaves as Trimalchio, Palladius, Narcissus enjoyed great influence. King Jugurtha of Numidia, by bribing officials of Rome, sought the support of Rome in his struggle for the throne at the end of the 2nd century. BC. Expelled eventually from Rome, he called the "eternal" city a corrupt city. R. Greyton wrote about the rise of the English bourgeoisie: destroyed and ruined each other, the middle class went uphill, accumulating wealth. As a result, the nation once woke up, seeing new masters. The middle class used money to buy all the desired titles and privileges. This elevator is intended for speakers and partly for technicians and psychologists. An example of a speaker-entrepreneur is Bryntsalov. As an example of oligarch psychologists, one can point to Berezovsky, Khodorkovsky and Gusinsky. One gets the impression that these psychologists managed through machinations and personal connections in the Kremlin to appropriate a significant part of the former state property during the period of privatization, and today, in the period of honest business and putting things in order, they are waiting for bankruptcy.

· Family and marriage . According to ancient Roman law, if a free woman married a slave, then her children became slaves, the son of a slave and a free man became a slave. Today there is a “pull” between rich brides and poor aristocrats, when in the event of marriage both partners receive mutual benefit: the bride receives the title, and the groom receives wealth. The family elevator is intended for psychologists and partly for speakers. The speaker has maximum success in love, and the psychologist is able to maintain love relationships with the maximum number of members of the opposite sex. Marrying a rich man is the best career path for a psychologist. It is the psychologist who is able to recapture a rich husband from his rival. Psychologists such as Ekaterina 1, Boris Godunov, and partly the speaker Ekaterina 2 made their careers in this way. For a technician and theorist, as for potential victims of “fatal” love, the problem of marriage is the most serious problem in life.

In our opinion, there is an evolution in the origin of social mobility elevators, they arose in turn, after the emergence of a new elevator, the value of the previously arisen elevators decreased, and they turned out to be obsolete, and the new elevators became the main ones in importance. The family elevator arose first during primitive society. To make a career with the family lift, one had to marry a tribal leader. Elevators such as the army, government groups, the church, the arts, the school, and science arose under slavery. Elevators such as business and printing originated under capitalism. Thus, under primitive society, the main lift was the family lift, under slavery - the army and government groups, under feudalism - the army, government groups and the church, under capitalism - business, government groups and the press.

Speakers are the most promising candidates using four elevators (military, politics, press, business) and somewhat promising candidates using two more elevators (show and marriage).

Technicians are second rate when using the four elevators (Army, Science, Business, Show). The theorist is the most promising candidate when using only one scientific elevator.

We can conclude that only a speaker is able to make a dizzying career and change from one elevator to another. The speaker is able to make several careers in different professions during his life. The speaker demonstrates maximum enterprise in achieving the goal even with the help of criminal means, his dizzying career is a sequence of unexpected ups and catastrophic falls, an example is the career of B. Yeltsin.

Theorists are able to make a career with the help of only one scientific elevator due to the small number of worthy competitors, since the share of theorists in the population - 3% - is negligible. A career as a theoretician is like a railroad – from station to station, from stage to stage strictly on schedule, according to a long-term plan. But he is incapable of making any other career than a scientific career. Making a career on your own without the support of friends and associates is a difficult task.

Technicians occupy a stable middle position on the social ladder by being second rather than last-class when using many important lifts. Technicians make their careers slowly and surely, they diligently crawl up the steps of the social ladder and never change from one elevator to another, they prefer to inherit power.

8. Influence of other factors on the degree of career success.

Based on the results of empirical research, it can be argued that other factors, such as race and gender, education, parental occupation, family size, and place of residence, also influence the degree of career success. More successful in the US are representatives of the white race, men with a high level of education. The exception to this rule is the career of the current African-American President Barack Obama. The results of a study of social mobility between generations show that 40% of the children of skilled workers ("blue collar") moved up a notch and became representatives of the middle class ("white collar"). And 30% of middle-class children moved down one rung and became skilled workers. In a post-industrial society, the number of "white collars" is growing and the number of "blue collars" is decreasing. Horizontal mobility between generations is approximately 80%, it is this proportion of children who change their father's profession to another profession. The American dream is the hope of a dizzying success in a career: "From the hut to the presidential palace." Beginning in 1970, the American economy began a period of stagnation due to rising oil prices and increased competition in the automotive and electronics sectors from countries such as Japan, South Korea, and China. Japanese, Chinese and Korean workers have lower wages and are more hardworking than American workers. Production in these industries is transferred from the US to these countries, which leads to the outflow of the US workforce from manufacturing to the service sector, which in turn is accompanied by lower wages. Because of this, the number of people working in several places has increased in the US, and the number of young people who cannot leave their parental home, cannot buy their own home and are forced to marry later.

Annex to paragraph 40.

The degree of success in an administrative career in different types of personality .

In the process of research, one should not be limited to abstract reasoning alone, it is necessary to conduct empirical studies that should clarify our forecasts, for example, regarding the degree of success of various types of personality in an administrative career. We analyzed the careers of 40 leaders who were directors of educational institutions or heads of the city's education department. Career trajectory observations are time-consuming, so our observations have been made over the past 12 years. The sample was random. We knew all the respondents personally or worked in the educational institutions they headed, which made it possible to accurately determine their personality type and the state of the educational institution. The prosperity of an educational institution means its good reputation on a city scale, the growth of the contingent, the good condition of the building and equipment, and a good financial situation. Location of research: 9 leaders - from the Usolsky district, 1 leader - from the city of Yekaterinburg, 1 leader - from the city of Engels, Saratov region, 27 leaders - from the city of Berezniki, 1 leader - from the city of Solikamsk.

We can conclude that our prediction that speakers are the most successful in an administrative career has found experimental confirmation, technicians are in second place in terms of success, psychologists are in third place, theorists turned out to be completely unsuitable for the role of leader. It is the speakers who make up the majority among the leaders, first of all they rise up from the position of the school director to the position of the head of the Gorono, and then to the position of the head of the Oblono, they are able to transfer from one elevator to another and lead their educational institution to prosperity. The collapse in the career of a psychologist becomes final, for example, I know of two examples when one psychologist ended up in prison for a period of 1 year for selling certificates, and another psychologist committed embezzlement of funds, but this scandal was hushed up and it was difficult to avoid initiating a criminal case . The reform in education requires the leaders of an educational institution to have entrepreneurial qualities, so in the future we should expect an increase in the proportion of speakers among them who are able to bring their educational institution to prosperity in the educational services market.

Table 2.

Questions that we tried to answer in the process of observation.	Ifqualityleaders	Psycholog.	Technician.	Speaker.
1. How many leaders were observed in total?		12%	28%	60%
2. How many of them were heads of higher educational institutions?		29%	29%	42%
3. How many leaders managed to rise from the position of school principal to the position of head of the Gorono?		17%		83%
4. How many leaders managed to rise from the position of head of Gorono to the position of deputy head of Oblono?				100%
5. How many executives have been fired from their positions for financial abuse or for disruption in their careers?		13%	40%	47%
6. How many managers have the fact of alternating ups and downs in their careers, the ability to transfer to another elevator?			36%	64%
7. How many leaders have led their school to prosper?				92%
8. How many leaders have led their school to decline?		29%	42%	29%
9. How many leaders have led their school to close or go bankrupt?		50%	50%
10. The number of men among leaders.			33%	59%

Questions for reflection.

1. What was the result of the attempt in the USSR to give all students a secondary education? List the negative consequences.

2. Which of the above elevators was the main one in the USSR?

3. What elevator do you plan to use in your future career?

Based on social science knowledge, explain the meaning of the concept of "vertical social mobility". What conditions, according to the author, influence the intensity of social mobility? (Name any three conditions.) What social mechanism does he think holds back social mobility in a democratic society?

Read the text and complete tasks 21-24.

In the process of development of society, its social structure does not remain unchanged. At the micro level, relationships, social ties, composition of groups, statuses and roles, relations between groups are changing. At the macro level, the quantitative composition of the lower and middle layers is changed by the economic situation and political decisions of the authorities, legal and moral norms.

In addition, each person is striving to improve his status. All this creates no longer a frozen, static, but a dynamic picture of society. One of the processes of social dynamics is social mobility. The intensity of social mobility depends on the level of development of society, the economic situation, democratic relations, and the standard of living of the population.

Post-industrial society is characterized by intensive vertical mobility. In a democratic society, where the position of a person does not depend on his prescribed status, nationality, religion, the channels of vertical mobility are open, and everyone who meets certain requirements has the opportunity to improve their social status.

According to P. Sorokin, in a democratic society “there are many openings and elevators for going up and down…” , which destroyed many representatives of the higher strata at once).

In a democratic society, where there are no social, national and other restrictions, nevertheless, a certain social mechanism operates that restrains mobility ... This is the mechanism of competition, which manifests itself not only in the economic struggle, but also in any struggle for raising social status.

B.A. Isaev

What changes in the social structure at the micro level are noted in the text? What example of excessive social mobility does the author give? What indicators, in his opinion, do not affect the position of a person in a democratic society? (Name any two indicators.)

Explanation.

A correct answer must contain the following elements:

1) Answer to the first question:

At the micro level, relationships, social ties, composition of groups, statuses and roles, relations between groups are changing.

2) Answer to the second question:

A large number of people from the lower strata in management structures speaks of some kind of abnormality, a social cataclysm (revolution, war, epidemic that destroyed many representatives of the higher strata at once).

3) Answer to the third question:

Social restrictions;

national restrictions.

Response elements can be presented both in the form of a quotation and in the form of a concise reproduction of the main ideas of the relevant text fragments.

Source: USE - 2018. Early wave

Based on social science knowledge and the facts of social life, name and illustrate with examples any three "elevators for ascent and descent." (First name the social elevator, then give an appropriate example.) (Each example should be formulated in detail.)

Explanation.

The correct answer must name any three "lifts for ascent and descent" and give examples illustrating each of them:

1) Marrying a representative of a higher social stratum. For example, middle-class citizen Ivanova married a British prince and improved her social security. status - became a princess.

2) Education. For example, Mrs. Petrova, who was born into a family of workers, received a higher education and got a job as a plant manager.

3) Professional institutions (work). For example, Mr. Egorov, who got a job as a store cashier after school, was promoted to the level of the store manager.

social mobility

Social mobility is divided into vertical And horizontal.

Vertical mobility- moving a person up or down the corporate ladder.

• Upward mobility - social uplift, upward movement (For example: promotion).
• Downward mobility - social descent, downward movement (For example: demolition).

Horizontal mobility- the transition of an individual from one social group to another,

located on the same level. Distinguish between individual mobility - the movement of one person independently of others, and group mobility - the movement occurs collectively. In addition, they distinguish geographic mobility - moving from one place to another while maintaining the same status. As a kind of geographical mobility, the concepts of migration are distinguished - moving from one place to another with a change in status.

There are the following types of migration on:

• character - labor and political reasons;
• duration - temporary (seasonal) and permanent;
• territories - internal and international;
• status - legal and illegal.

Social elevators

Social lift - a concept similar to vertical mobility, but more often used in the modern context of discussion elite theories as one of the means of rotation of the ruling elite.

Elite theory- a concept that suggests that the people as a whole cannot govern the state and this function is assumed by the elite of society.

Generational mobility

Intergenerational mobility is a comparative change in social status among different generations.

Intragenerational mobility (social career) is a change in status within one generation. Vertical and horizontal mobility are influenced by gender, age, birth rate, death rate, population density. In general, men and young people are more mobile than women and the elderly. Overpopulated countries are more likely to experience the effects of emigration than immigration. Where the birth rate is high, the population is younger and therefore more mobile, and vice versa.

Elevators of social mobility

The choice of a social mobility elevator is of great importance in choosing a profession and in recruiting personnel. Sorokin named eight elevators of vertical mobility, along which people move up or down the steps of the social ladder in the course of their personal career.

• Army;
• Religious organizations;
• School and scientific organizations;
• Political lift, i.e. government groups and parties;
• Art;
• Press, television, radio;
• Economic organizations;
• Family and marriage.

So, each of us can be attributed to one or another social group, each occupies a certain place in the social structure. Is it possible to change this place and how does it happen?
The answers to these questions are provided by the theory of social mobility. Social mobility refers to the movement of people from one social group to another. A distinction is made between horizontal and vertical mobility. Horizontal mobility implies the transition of a person to a group located at the same level as the previous one, for example, the transition from one family to another upon remarriage, from one factory to another, a change of citizenship. Vertical mobility, on the other hand, involves moving from one level of the hierarchy (ladder) to another. At the same time, a person can make both a social upsurge (from a small employee to a manager of a large company) and a social descent (from an average entrepreneur to an unskilled worker).
An example of a "closed" society with little social mobility is the caste system in India. It was almost impossible for a person who belonged to a lower caste to occupy a higher social position. On the contrary, industrial, "open" societies are characterized by high social mobility.
Social mobility can be different within the same society at certain stages of its development. We know from history what major social shifts revolutions, wars, and conquests lead to. Thus, the revolutionary upheavals in Russia in 1917 led to the liquidation of the richest strata of society: almost the entire aristocracy was thrown back to the lowest rung; most of the entrepreneurs and higher professional specialists have lost their social status. At the same time, within a few years, representatives of the lower strata of the population advanced to the top of political, economic, and ideological life. A similar picture is given by the revolution in France in 1789, the English revolution of the 17th century.
Let us return to society in its normal state. How do people move from one group to another?

According to the sociologist P. Sorokin, several social institutions contribute to this, primarily the army, the church, and the school.
Let's start with the army. Service in it at all times made it possible to move up the social ladder. Losses during wars among the commanders led to the filling of vacancies by people of lower ranks. Of the 92 Roman emperors, 36 achieved this high social position through feats of arms.
In the Middle Ages, individual commoners in the same way became generals, counts, dukes. In modern times, an example of such an ascent can be the life path of Napoleon and many of his entourage. Cromwell and Washington are among such nominees.
The church had a significant influence on the movement of people along the steps of the social ladder. Let us turn to the period of early Christianity. Recall that the followers of this creed at the initial stages were mainly representatives of the lower social strata: slaves, artisans, dependent peasantry. After the state recognition of Christianity in ancient Rome, many of them, thanks to the church, received freedom and achieved a high position in society. At the same time, the church severely punished apostates. Among the "demoted" heretics there are many kings, princes, lords.
Another social "elevator" is the school. Education in some cases opens access to prestigious positions and titles. In modern Western society, without graduating from a university or college, it is virtually impossible to achieve a high position in the public service and in many other areas.
Given the importance of the school as an important means of social mobility, ruling groups in a number of countries have tried to close access to education for members of the lower strata. So, in England in the XIV century. a decree was issued stating that no serf should send children to school in order to prevent them from advancing in life. A similar role was called upon to fulfill the "circular about the cook's children", published in Russia in 1886 and instructing not to allow children from the lower classes to enter the gymnasium.

The most complete description of channels vertical mobility was given by P. Sorokin. Only he calls them `channels vertical circulation`. He believes that there are no impassable borders between the strata. Between them there are various `elevators`, on which individuals move up and down.

Of particular interest are social institutions - the army, church, school, family, property, which are used as channels social circulation.

The army functions as a channel vertical circulation is greatest in wartime. Large losses among the command staff lead to the filling of vacancies from lower ranks. In wartime, soldiers advance through talent and bravery.

It is known that out of 92 Roman emperors, 36 reached this rank, starting from the lower ranks. Of the 65 Byzantine emperors, 12 advanced through military careers. Napoleon and his entourage, marshals, generals and the kings of Europe appointed by him, came from commoners. Cromwell, Grant, Washington and thousands of other commanders have risen to the highest positions thanks to the army.
The Church, like a drip of social circulation, has moved a large number of people from the bottom to the top. societies. P. Sorokin studied the biographies of 144 Roman Catholic popes and found that 28 came from the lower classes, and 27 from the middle strata. The institution of celibacy (celibacy), introduced in the 11th century. Pope Gregory VII ordered the Catholic clergy not to have children. Thanks to this, after the death of officials, the vacant positions were filled with new people.

In addition to the upward movement, the church became a channel for the downward movement. Thousands of heretics, pagans, enemies of the church were brought to justice, ruined and destroyed. Among them were many kings, dukes, princes, lords, aristocrats and nobles of the highest ranks.

School. The institutions of education and upbringing, no matter what concrete form they take, in all ages have served as a powerful channel of social circulation. in the open society The `social elevator` moves from the very bottom, passes through all floors and reaches the very top.

During the era of Confucius, schools were open to all classes. Examinations were held every three years. The best students, regardless of their marital status, were selected and transferred to higher schools, and then to universities, from where they got to high government posts.

Thus, the Chinese school constantly uplifted the common people and hindered the advancement of the upper classes if they did not meet the requirements.

The great competition for colleges and universities in many countries is explained by the fact that education is the fastest and most accessible channel of social circulation.

Property most clearly manifests itself in the form of accumulated wealth and money. They are one of the simplest and most effective ways of social promotion.

Family and marriage become channels vertical circulation in the event that representatives of different social statuses enter the union. In European society, the marriage of a poor, but titled partner with a rich, but not noble, was common. As a result, both moved up the social ladder, getting what each wanted.