Social mobility is the hope of economic development and the mantra of a good society. There are disagreements about what constitutes social mobility, but there is broad agreement that people should have roughly equal chances of success regardless of their economic status at birth. Concerns about rising inequality have engendered a renewed interest in social mobility—especially in the developing world. However, efforts to construct the databases and meet the standards required for conventional analyses of social mobility are at a preliminary stage and need to be complemented by innovative, conceptual, and methodological advances. If forms of mobility have slowed in the West, then we might be entering an age of rigid stratification with defined boundaries between the always-haves and the never-haves-which does not augur well for social stability. Social mobility research is ongoing, with substantive findings in different disciplines—typically with researchers in isolation from each other. A key contribution of this book is the pulling together of the emerging streams of knowledge. Generating policy-relevant knowledge is a principal concern. Three basic questions frame the study of diverse aspects of social mobility in the book. How to assess the extent of social mobility in a given development context when the datasets by conventional measurement techniques are unavailable? How to identify drivers and inhibitors of social mobility in particular developing country contexts? How to acquire the knowledge required to design interventions to raise social mobility, either by increasing upward mobility or by lowering downward mobility?

The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction is an invaluable reference work featuring contributions from leading global scholars, available both online and as a three-volume print set. The definitive international reference work on a topic of major and increasing importance, in a new series of sub-disciplinary international encyclopedias Provides state-of-the-art research for scholars in a highly interactive and accessible format, available both online and as a three-volume print set Covers key research topics in the field with contributions from a team of experienced, global editors Successfully brings into a single source, explication of all of the fascinating and ground-breaking Language and Social Interaction work developing globally and across subjects Part of The Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication series, published in conjunction with the International Communication Association. Online version available at www.wileyicaencyclopedia.com

Social Structure and Behavior: Essays in Honor of William Hamilton Sewell is a collection of 16 essays dealing with the social psychological aspects of schooling and achievement, social stratification and mobility, measurements and methods, and social structures and wellbeing. The collection discusses the political dimension of stratification, the results of observation of first-graders in their reading group assignments against their social background, and stereotyping practices held by dominant groups of society. Anther papers use a causal model to analyze occupational status and earnings of Cuban exiles in the U.S.; other authors discuss the effects of institutionalization of formal employment in Brazil, and propose a revision of the Duncan Scale by a more comprehensive set of occupational prestige scale. The book also analyzes measurements of ranked preferences using a single latent factor behind the ranked items. One authors points that some sociological terms can be misleading in propounding a sound theory when these terms themselves confound what they are supposed to correlate. The text also addresses the fundamental problems concerning welfare that include order, collective action, and consensus. This collection of essays can interest social workers, sociologists, psychologists, and researchers involved in community development.