Rags to Riches?: Experiences of Social Mobility since 1800
About
This network was funded from June 2013 to December 2015.
This interdisciplinary research group explored the history and experience of social mobility in nineteenth and twentieth century Britain and Europe. The network aimed to foster the development of new perspectives on social mobility by adopting a qualitative and family biographical approach. We sought in particular to uncover the previously neglected areas of female social mobility and the impact of family members on an individual’s life chances. Our comparative approach promoted the setting of individual findings within a broader geographical and temporal context.
To find past social media content follow the Twitter link.
You can also read our Wordpress blog here.
Contact: Christina de Bellaigue, Faculty of History
People
Events
Past Events
Rags to Riches: Experiences of Social Mobility Since 1800
Over 2013-16, we held various lunchtime workshops, discussions and speaker events with a focus on assessing the status of current research in the field.
These included:
- A discussion of recent work on the history and sociology of social mobility.
- A session on the question of intergenerational transmission and the role of grandparents. (March 2014)
- Discussion session convened by Catherine Sloan -" Experiences of Social Mobility since 1800" (January 2016)
- Education and Intergenerational Mobility (March 2016) Speaker: Erzsebet Bukodi
- Social Mobility and Us (May 2016)
- The History of Social Mobility Research (May 2016) Chris Renwick (History, York)
- On the Move: The Job Market, Summer Holidays, and British Elementary Teachers, 1846-1902 (June 2016) Chris Bischof (History, Richmond)
- Rags to Riches 2016-2017 (June 2016)
Rethinking Social Mobility (June 2015)
A one-day workshop held in Oxford. Social mobility has re-emerged as an important topic in academic research, political policy and protest, and the media. The aim of the workshop was to explore new directions, approaches, studies and research projects being undertaken across the humanities and social sciences on the topic of social mobility.
Pastorhood as a Calling and Career (October 2015)
Migration, Religion and Social Mobility Among Kenyan Penetcostal Pastors in London
Speaker: Leslie Fesenmyer (COMPAS, Oxford)
Social Mobility as a Prescription for Obesity Prevention (November 2015)
An Analysis of Policy and Popular Media Discourses.
Speaker: Karin Eli (Anthropology, University of Oxford)
Riches to Rags and Education and Social Mobility in China (December 2015)
A session held on:
Riches to Rags: Class as Performance in the Public Personas of Nigel Farage and Al Murray, Pub Landlord
Pip Swallow (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Education and Social Mobility in China: A Comparison of Patterns of Cooperation and Competition in Two Jiangsu Primary Schools
Anni Kajanus (London School of Economics).
Teachers and Social Mobility in Post-war Britain (February 2016)
Laura Tisdall (History, University of Oxford)
Great Expectations? Childhood and Social Mobility (June 2016)
Workshop Held:
Programme
Roundtable – Is childhood the key stage for social mobility?
Panel 1: Parents and Social Mobility
Panel 2: Memories of Childhood Social Mobility
Panel 3: Education and Social Mobility
Panel 4: Social Immobility and Childhood
Panel 5: Representations of Childhood Social Mobility
Policy Panel: Should promoting children's upward social mobility be a guiding principle in policy?
How and Why Have Oxford Admissions Outcomes Reproduced Existing Inequalities (January 2017)
Sol Gamsu (University of Bath) and Claire Maxwell (UCL/Institute of Education) led a roundtable discussion.
To promote discussion of the historical, geographical and social forces shaping admissions to Oxford in the past and which still have an influence today. The speakers' research drew on geography, history, sociology, and education to illuminate long-standing trends and influences.
Social Mobility and Wellbeing: Does 'Moving Up' Lead to Better Health? (March 2017)
Speakers:
Karin Eli (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford)
Stanley Ulijaszek (Professor of Human Ecology, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford)
The discussion focused on how classed childhood experiences, including social mobility, may mediate, and even invert, expected relationships between health and adult social class, with particular attention to body weight, eating practices, and distress.
The Long Nineteenth Century Seminar: Forms of Service in the Long Nineteenth Century
A series of 8 seminars were held in October/November 2017.
Honour and Class in the Post-Reform Imperial Russian Officer Corps (1861-1914)
Alexander Morrison (New College, University of Oxford)
'The Possibility of Witchcraft: Reputation, Belief, and the Legacy of the Revolutionary Penal Reforms in France'
Will Pooley (University of Bristol).
'Writing Freedom Down: African American Handwriting in the Early Years of Freedom'
Gretchen Long (Williams/Exeter College, University of Oxford)
'Defending the Patria: The Tuscan Civic Guard and the Politicisation of Artisanel Populations in Florence, 1847-1849'
Ben Kehoe (Wolfson College, University of Oxford)
Two talks:
'Domestic Service and Mass Leisure in France and Britain, 1890-1930'
Fanny Louvier (Balliol College, University of Oxford)
'While Seeking a Situation': Cross-Cultural Experiences of Out-of-Work Foreign Domestics in London, c.1880-1930'
Olivia Robinson (Kellogg College, University of Oxford)
'A Zealous Anthropologist: Intersections of Political Activism and Scientific Objectivity in Maria Czaplicka's (1884-1921) Career;
Jaanika Vider (Saint Cross, University of Oxford)
'John, the Soldier, Jack the Tar': Military Manliness and Emotional Objects in Georgian and Victorian England'
Joanne Begiato (Oxford Brookes)
'The Zouave Moment: Martial Fashion in the Age of Industrial War'
Carol Harrison (South Carolina)
A series of three lectures given by Professor Larry S. Temkin (Rutgers University) (November 2017)
- Effective Altruism, Pluralism, and Singer's Pond Example
- Singer's Pond Example vs Supporting International Aid Organisations
- Some Empirical Worries and Uncomfortable Philosophical Possibilities
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