Residential mobility and the spatial dispersion of personal networks: Effects on social support

Using a representative national sample of personal networks, this article explores how the spatial dispersion of networks, residential mobility and social support are linked. Three issues will be addressed here. Firstly, how is the spatial dispersion of personal networks related to individuals’ social characteristics, network composition and residential mobility? Secondly, how do the spatial dispersion of networks, residential mobility and their combined effect influence the number and (thirdly) the structure of emotional support ties? Results showed that the extent of the support was affected neither by the geographical distribution of the networks nor by residential mobility. Living far from one's birthplace, however, exerted two distinct, and opposite effects on the support network structure. On the one hand, mobility led to high spatial dispersion of personal contacts, which in turn favored a sparsely knit network centered around the mobile individual. On the other hand, by controlling for the effect of distance between the contacts, we found that individuals that cited long-distance ties tended to be part of more transitive support networks than those that cited local ties. We interpreted the latter effect as evidence that transitive ties may survive greater spatial distances than intransitive ones. These findings are discussed in view of spatial mobility and social network research.     

Mobility of students and attractiveness of universities. The case of Sapienza University of Rome

Human mobility is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. While labour migration has been widely and deeply investigated – through theoretical and empirical analysis – other forms of mobility have received much less attention. Students' mobility is a peculiar form of temporary movement that can be considered as neither migration nor tourism. It is rapidly growing: in the period 1975–2005 the number of tertiary education students abroad increased fourfold, from 0.61 million to 2.73 million, following the trend of the internationalization of economy and globalization of culture. In 2009 almost 3.7 million tertiary students were enrolled outside their country of origin, an increase of more than 6% from the previous year.

In this paper we analyse the international mobility of university students, using a unique data set built through surveys conducted at the Sapienza University of Rome. The data collected cover a rich array of information on students' characteristics and backgrounds, provenance places, family conditions, individual aspirations, and job preferences. The empirical analysis of those data offers an opportunity for understanding a relevant part of mobility decisions of (prospective) highly qualified workers. The Sapienza University, moreover, is at present the largest university in Europe for number of students and a pole of attraction for both European and non-European students. This allows us to enlarge our analysis at a global level.     

Towards the elsewhere: discourses on migration and mobility practices between Morocco and Italy

The objective of this article is to analyse the preparation process of young Moroccan migrants intended to migrate to Italy. My focus is on the personal and collective formulation of their desire to leave and on concomitant action taken to bring about these aspirations; highlighting the complexity of the imagination, which migration – and expected return – entails. A second point of interest is the agency exerted by such youth, as they prepare for departure; even when they have not yet physically left the country. In addition, my observation is focussed on networks emerging as a result of having to deal with state-imposed, migration restrictions, as well as with the politics of humanitarian agencies and NGOs. I argue that these aspiring migrants project themselves into the future and act in accordance with what they long to become. They shape themselves as mobile subjects through a process of self-making to overcome the above-mentioned constraints.     

Locus of Control and low-wage mobility

We investigate whether non-cognitive skills – in particular Locus of Control – are important determinants of mobility processes for male workers at the low-wage margin. Our results reveal a significant amount of state dependence in low pay even after controlling for non-cognitive skills. Furthermore, compared to individuals with an external Locus of Control, individuals with a more internal Locus of Control have a significantly higher probability of being higher-paid instead of low-paid. Conditional on being low-paid, individuals with an internal Locus of Control have a significantly higher probability of moving to higher-paid employment in the following year than individuals with an external Locus of Control. Our results suggest that having an internal Locus of Control is an important non-cognitive skill in the context of low wages. It may help individuals to avoid low-wage jobs and to move from low-paid jobs to higher-paid jobs.     

农民工社会流动的现实困境与对策分析

农民工合理有序的社会流动对转型期中国社会具有特殊意义。然而,目前农民工的社会流动绝大多数只是水平流动,缺乏跨越阶层边界的向上流动。因此可以说,当前的农民工社会流动已陷入困境。转型社会背景下的二元化制度及其惯性、农民工整体人力资本弱势以及社会资本缺乏是造成流动困境的主要原因。欲突破农民工社会流动困境,必须改革与创新制度、提升农民工人力资本、推动农民工组织化建设、规范政府职能,同时还应加强执行能力的建设、转变观念。     

江苏省居民个人收入流动性实证分析

利用1989-2009年间CHNS调查数据,对江苏省居民个人的收入流动性进行了经验分析,研究发现:(1)尽管在1997-2000年间居民个人收入流动性略有上升,但是整体上考察期内江苏省居民个人的收入流动性呈现出不断下降且趋于稳定的趋势特征;(2)中间阶层的居民较最穷和最富两个收入阶层具有更高的收入流动性;(3)农村居民个人收入流动性始终大于同时段城镇居民个人收入流动性;(4)1993年以后收入流动性不利于江苏省居民个人收入地位的改善,收入顶层居民的收入地位固定化趋势较为明显,同时江苏省尚未形成一个较为稳定的中等收入阶层.最后,本文指出江苏省应将提高居民收入流动性和培育中等收入阶层作为政策的着力点.     

美国文艺作品中阶级位移主题模式的嬗变

美国文艺作品中的阶级位移主题是一个未被学术界重视的边缘话题,在当下的文化语境中研究其主题模式的嬗变为我们提供了一个洞悉此类美国文学作品的崭新视角.根据拉梅耳(R.J. Rummel)的观点,梳理了文艺学视域内的阶级概念,以此标准定义出阶级位移的主题并归纳总结出美国文学作品中"堕落"与"成功"两个主题模式.纵览19世纪中前期到当代的涉及阶级位移的美国主流文艺作品,在历史与文化语境中勾画出此类作品嬗变的轨迹和特点,并从历史的角度分析其成因,指出女性和少数族裔人民的觉醒是推动阶级位移主题模式发展变化的内因.     

“乡下人进城”文学叙事的政治伦理遮蔽与还原--以《我们夫妇之间》、《霓虹灯下的哨兵》为中心

萧也牧的《我们夫妇之间》和沈西蒙、漠雁、吕兴臣编剧的九场话剧《霓虹灯下的哨兵》是较早的“乡下人进城”作品.《我》的饱受争议与《霓》剧的名噪一时形成了鲜明的反差,这源于二者对城乡日常生活方式差异的不同想象.经由这一文学现象的考察,可见当代城乡差异叙事逐渐剥离阶级、国家意识的遮蔽与替代转向不同身份的生命的“生”的个体差异.“差异”的历史衍义折射了国家、阶级、民族宏大叙事的祛魅以及对生命本体差异现状的正视与回归.透视“差异”衍义的审美经验背后的政治,可知进城的乡下人在创造生活的同时也在创造一种历史.     

当前中国阶层流动固化趋向与治理路径分析——基于集团分利视角

阶层流动以精英流动为主要实现方式,精英流动受阻意味着阶层固化,阶层固化是集团分利的后果之一,是“机构僵化症”的同义语.中国在市场转型过程中形成了各类精英集团,精英集团的分利行为造成资源的集团式垄断,而阶层流动又以资源占有为前提,精英便趋于集团内或集团间复制,阶层固化趋势加剧.实现公平分利以建立良性精英流动机制、适度硬政权建设以打破分利集团联盟及制度变革与创新以重构利益格局是消除阶层固化的路径选择.     

Socio-economic re-structuring and employment: the case of minority ethnic groups

The consequences of major changes in employment, due to the decline of manufacturing and the growth of the service sector, have not been well-documented, nor theorized, in the sociology of ethnic relations, even in recent studies. For example, Blumer's classic argument that economic development adapts to 'race relations', rather than the reverse as predicted by the modernization school, has not been either empirically resolved or conceptually applied to the UK. By adapting data from the Labour Force Survey and the Census, the paper begins to fill this gap with a detailed account of three main minority ethnic groups, and a separate analysis of male and female employment. It is demonstrated that, contrary to assumptions that members of the minority ethnic groups suffered most from de-industrialization, they actually did rather well, and in some cases did better than the majority population. These findings are re-conceptualized as collective social mobility, as part of a review of a number of conceptual frameworks in the light of the data.