2,924 words
We have already had the occasion to point to the illusoriness of the claim that modern man, in general, has achieved an autonomy and self-consciousness he previously lacked. This illusion can in part be explained by the fact that attention today is primarily directed towards external conditions, to the disappearance of certain material limits to the freedom of the individual — Read more …
The Genetic Limits of Social Mobility
Gregory Clark
The Son Also Rises: Surnames and the History of Social Mobility
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014
One of the continual areas of inquiry in sociology and economics is that of social mobility. Much effort is put forth in attempts to uncover the degree to which it occurs and to delineate the factors involved in its occurrence (or lack thereof) among various demographic groups. Read more …