Authors
Sofia Aboim, Pedro Vasconcelos
Publication date
2009
Journal
Swiss Journal of Sociology
Volume
35
Issue
2
Pages
297-319
Description
Social mobility has often been viewed as highly dependent on advantages or disadvantages passed from earlier to later generations in terms of unequal resources (economic, cultural and social) and socialization patterns. These inheritances would constrain individuals' ability to achieve better social positions, even though structural changes have improved the overall standard of living and reconfigured the class structure of developed societies. Structuralist approaches have, however, neglected the importance of life course dynamics as well as the existence of non-reproductive class trajectories, which defy the strict continuity between inheritances and achievements. Over time individuals live through changing experiences and turning points that recreate social conditions and dispositions, redefining the structure of future opportunities. Hence, the centrality of a life course approach to understand the complexity of …
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