Synopses & Reviews
In this groundbreaking study, Andrew Miles subjects historical evidence of intergenerational and career mobility from the records of nineteenth-century marriages and autobiographical testimony to the analytical techniques developed by social scientists. Challenging previous assumptions about the long-term pattern of mobility in Britain, he demonstrates that the increase in mobility which accompanied the growth of an increasingly urbanized and bureaucratic service economy over the second half of the nineteenth century made English society more "open," while simultaneously encouraging a process of working-class formation which helped shape the emergence of modern labor politics.
Synopsis
List of Tables List of Figures Introduction Exploring the Land of Boundless Opportunity Social Mobility and Class Formation Industrialisation and Social Fluidity Occupations, Classes and Mobility Career Mobility Mechanisms and Meanings of Mobility Marriage Markets and Women's Role in Social Mobility Social Mobility and Class Structure in Historical Perspective Appendix 1: The Social Classification Scheme Appendix 2: Clas Outflow and Inflow Rates of Selected Occupational Groups Appendix 3: Occupational Sector Distributions of Grooms by Class and Sector of Fathers by Marriage Cohort Notes Bibliography Index
Synopsis
This pioneering book provides the first systematic historical analysis of occupational and social mobility in England. Using a collection of over 10,000 marriage certificates to examine inter-generational change, and almost 500 autobiographical texts and abstracts to explore the dynamics of career mobility, it shows how the development of the nineteenth-century economy was accompanied by rising rates of mobility, which made English society more 'open' while at the same encouraging a distinct process of working-class formation.
Synopsis
The first systematic historical study of occupational and social mobility in England.
About the Author
Andrew Miles is Lecturer in Modern Social History at the University of Birmingham.
Table of Contents
Introduction * Exploring the Land of Boundless Opportunity * Social and Class Formation * Industrialization and Social Fluidity * Occupations, Classes and Mobility * Career Mobility * Mechanisms and Meanings of Mobility * Marriage Markets and Women's Role in Social Mobility * Social Mobility and Class Structure in Historical Perspective * Index