Social Mobility Essay -- essays research papers

Mobility is the characteristic of every social system. friendly mobility is themovement of individuals, families and groups from mavinsocial position toanother. It may be studied in terms of redistributionof resources and poweramong the different social strata and its effect onthe people involved. In the side societies the social status of the person isdetermined from his work. cordial mobility occurs whenever people move acrosssocial class boundaries, fromone &8992occupational level to another. The study ofSocial Mobility is importantfor a number of reasons -1. It matters to people to get on in life,2. We can study peoples life histories,3. We can see changes in the class system,4. The more(prenominal) mobile a society is may show it to be moreopen and fairer,5. Mobility affects the way classes are formed, theirsize and shape.A common sense flavor regarding class in the U.S canbe represented as a fewrich people on the top, few execrable people at the bottom,and the middle class majority in the center. Mostly everybody has acomfortable standard of living.If we divide the U.S. population in 5 equalproportions and their corresponding plowshare of the nations income we get the followingiTop 20% of the population receives 49.1% ofthe extreme incomeiSecond top 20% of the population receives24.3% of the total incomeiMiddle 20% of the population receives 15% ofthe total incomeiSecond bottom 20% of the population receives8.9% of the total incomeiBottom 20% of the population receives 3.6% ofthe total incomeThe top 20% of the population have a disproportionateshare of the incomecompared to their share in the population. Looking atthe standards of living byconsumption the ration between the top 20% and thebottom 20% is 91. Thiscomparison illustrates great inequality in US society.It is often say thathigh levels of inequality is necessary because itstimulates competition, itcreates incentives for excellence, and providesrewards for performance. Theconflict perspectiv e, on the other hand, argues thatpeople at the bottom wonttake it and they will work towards changing the statusquo. For instance, poorpeople may use their vote to elect officials who willrepresent their interests... ...enturies. Itsroots are found in religious literature of around1200-1000 BC, and, although ithas technically been abolished in India, in practiceit is still very much aliveand thriving. Being either one of these castes, doesaffect ones position insociety and by all means, the social mobility.Although there is not muchdistinction between the Brahmins, Kshatriyas andVaishyas, if one is a Harijanthere are manifest hindrances. The term coined byMahatma Gandhi, literally meansPeople of the god, and it was meant in every waybecause these people alsocalled the untouchables, were literally the socialoutcastes and had nobodyssupport. Even till today, in Rural India the orthodoxpeople will not even drinkwater from their hands. However, the government to ismaking efforts to ab olish these distinctions.Social Mobility in India and in the US has a verydifferent concept. In the US,mobility is based on money, i.e. he who has moneydominates. However, in India,money doesnt victimize an all-important role. There areother factors that governsocial mobility and these factors do need to be lookedinto because some ofthese are not fit to exist in the 21st century.