structural mobility

(noun)

Opportunity for movement in social class that is attributable to changes in the social structure of a society, rather than to changes in an individual.

Related Terms

Examples of structural mobility in the following topics:

  • Open vs. Closed Stratification Systems

    • Though the extent to which individuals have social mobility in the United States is debated, new members of the elite are evidence that there is some mobility between classes.
    • The difference between these types of class systems are their structural mobility.
    • In a class system that has high structural mobility, it's easy to move around between social classes based on the way the society is structured, regardless of your individual achievements.
    • An open system describes a society with mobility between different social classes.
    • These categories were discrete, and there was little interaction or mobility between them.

  • Sources of Social Change

    • Some of the better-known approaches include deprivation theory, mass-society theory, structural-strain theory, resource-mobilization theory, political process theory and culture theory.
    • Here is a case in point to illustrate the example of structural-strain theory.
    • Structural conduciveness would occur when a group of people become disgruntled by a change in society.
    • Structural strain is when these people feel a sense of displeasure due to the change, such as being upset or angry.
    • Analyze the similarities and differences in the various social movement theories - deprivation, mass-society, structural-strain, resource-mobilization, political process and culture

  • Resource Mobilization Approach

    • The resource-mobilization approach is a theory that seeks to explain the emergence of social movements.
    • Resource-Mobilization Theory emphasizes the importance of resources in social movement development and success.
    • Resource mobilization theory also divides social movements according to their position among other social movements.
    • movements develop in contingent opportunity structures, which are external factors that may either limit or bolster the movement, that influence their efforts to mobilize.
    • Examples of opportunity structures may include elements, such as the influence of the state, a movement's access to political institutions, etc.

  • Social Movement Theories

    • structural conduciveness - people come to believe their society has problems
    • mobilization - this is the actual organizing and active component of the movement; people do what needs to be done
    • Resource-Mobilization Theory emphasizes the importance of resources in social movement development and success.
    • movements develop in contingent opportunity structures that influence their efforts to mobilize; as each movement's response to the opportunity structures depends on the movement's organization and resources, there is no clear pattern of movement development nor are specific movement techniques or methods universal
    • Political Process Theory is similar to resource mobilization in many regards, but tends to emphasize a different component of social structure that is important for social movement development: political opportunities.

  • Divisional Structure

    • Organizations can be structured in various ways, with each structure determining the manner in which the organization operates and performs.
    • A common legal structure known as the multidivisional form (or "M-form") also uses the divisional structure.
    • This business structure is typically found in companies that operate worldwide—for example, Virgin Group is the parent company of Virgin Mobile and Virgin Records.
    • As with all organizational structure types, the divisional structure offers distinct advantages and disadvantages.
    • Describe the basic premise behind divisional structures within the general framework of organizational structure

  • External Sources of Social Change

    • Generally, a theory of change should include elements such as structural aspects of change (like population shifts), processes and mechanisms of social change, and directions of change.
    • Political Process Theory is similar to resource mobilization theory (which considers the mobilization of resources to be the key ingredient of a successful movement) in many regards, and emphasizes political opportunities as the social structure that is important for social movement development.
    • "Organizational strength" falls in line with resource-mobilization theory, arguing that in order for a social movement to organize it must have strong leadership and sufficient resources.
    • Some groups may have the insurgent consciousness and resources to mobilize, but because political opportunities are closed, they will not have any success.
    • Critics of the political process theory and resource-mobilization theory point out that neither theory discusses the culture of movements to any great degree.

  • Mobile Marketing

    • Mobile marketing is the practice of promoting brands over mobile devices such as smartphones, portable media players and tablets.
    • Brands are able to both send and receive rich content through MMS A2P (application-to-person) mobile networks to mobile subscribers.
    • Game mobile marketing provides additional opportunities for brands looking to deliver promotional messaging within mobile games.
    • Some companies sponsor entire games to drive consumer engagement, a practice known as mobile advergaming or ad-funded mobile gaming.
    • Mobile content advertising schemes provided by the likes of Yahoo!

  • Defining and Measuring Economic Mobility

    • This concept of economic mobility is often considered in conjunction with 'social mobility', which is the capacity for an individual to change station within a society.
    • Absolute:Similar to intergenerational mobility, absolute mobility looks at how widespread economic growth improves (or reduces) an individual or a family's income over a generational time frame.
    • Relative:Relative mobility, as the name implies, measures the mobility and economic growth of a particular person within the context of the system in which they work.
    • Closely related to the concept of economic mobility is that of socioeconomic mobility, which refers to the ability to move vertically from one social or economic class to another.
    • Economists studying economic mobility have identified a number of factors that play an integral role in enabling (or blocking) participants in an economic system from achieving mobility.

  • Types of Social Mobility

    • Social mobility can be vertical and horizontal, absolute and relative, and between generations.
    • Vertical social mobility refers to moving up or down the so-called social ladder.
    • The British middle class thus experienced absolute upward mobility.
    • Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals or groups in social position over time.
    • Social mobility typically refers to vertical mobility, which is the movement of individuals or groups up or down from one socioeconomic level to another, often by changing jobs or through marriage.

  • Pathogenicity Islands and Virulence Factors

    • These mobile genetic elements may range from 10-200 kb, and may encode genes contributing to the virulence of the respective pathogen.
    • Cryptic mobility genes may also be present, indicating the provenance as transduction.
    • The structure on the top (outside) of the outer membrane is a TAA protein.