Historical Research on Social Mobility : Western Europe and the USA in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

First published in English in 1981, Historical Research on Social Mobility treats a central area of social history: the history of social mobility. It provides a unique guide to the wide range of research in this area that is carried out by many specialists of varying disciplines within social science.

Concentrating on Western Europe and the USA during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the book considers four topics—changes in the occupational and social opportunities of the working class; the inequality of educational opportunity; shifts in the recruitment of business elites, and changes in the social origins of the political elites. Illustrating concrete results of research into the history of social mobility, the volume also points to both the advances and shortcomings in this relatively new area.

Incorporating an extensive bibliography, the book provides an invaluable stimulus for further reading and investigation.