Social Mobility in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century England

Provides an historical analysis of occupational and social mobility in England. This text shows how the development of the 19th-century economy was accompanied by rising rates of mobility, which made English society more "open" while at the same encouraging a process of working-class formation.

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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.