This article explores intergenerational social mobility in the preindustrial era, analyzing data from France, Germany, and Sweden. Using uniform coding schemes (HISCO, HISCLASS, HISCAM), the study examines total, upward, downward, and sectoral mobility, addressing two main questions: (1) How did social mobility change over time? (2) Are there variations between countries and regions? The findings reveal that in France, mobility increased irregularly from the 1720s to 1850, while data for Germany and Sweden are more fragmented. Sweden stands out for high downward mobility, often involving farmers' sons becoming laborers, but also shows surprising upward mobility into farming. The study concludes that premodern social structures were less stable than theorized and that revolutionary events, like the French Revolution, did not significantly impact male mobility (no Sorokin effect).
Utrecht University, Netherlands - ORCID: 0000-0001-6459-7051
Utrecht University, Netherlands - ORCID: 0000-0001-5041-7347
Chapter Title
Social class mobility in the early modern Europe: a first international comparison
Authors
Marco H.D. van Leeuwen, Ineke Maas
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0667-9.11
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
La mobilità sociale nelle società preindustriali: tendenze, cause ed effetti (secc. XIII-XVIII) / Social mobility in pre-industrial societies: tendencies, causes and effects (13th-18th centuries)
Editors
Angela Orlandi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
612
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0667-9
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0666-2
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0667-9
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0668-6
Series Title
Datini Studies in Economic History
Series ISSN
2975-1241
Series E-ISSN
2975-1195