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The Son Also Rises: Surnames and the History of Social Mobility - Paperback | Diverse Reads

The Son Also Rises: Surnames and the History of Social Mobility

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A surprising look at how ancestry still determines social outcomes

How much of our fate is tied to the status of our parents and grandparents? How much does it influence our children? More than we wish to believe. While it has been argued that rigid class structures have eroded in favor of greater social equality, The Son Also Rises proves that movement on the social ladder has changed little over eight centuries. Using a novel technique—tracking family names over generations to measure social mobility across countries and periods—renowned economic historian Gregory Clark reveals that mobility rates are lower than conventionally estimated, do not vary across societies, and are resistant to social policies.

Clark examines and compares surnames in such diverse cases as modern Sweden and Qing Dynasty China. He demonstrates how fate is determined by ancestry and that almost all societies have similarly low social mobility rates. Challenging popular assumptions about mobility and revealing the deeply entrenched force of inherited advantage, The Son Also Rises is sure to prompt intense debate for years to come.

ISBN-13: 9780691168371

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Publication Date: 08-25-2015

Pages: 384

Product Dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

Series: Princeton Economic History of the Western World #49

Gregory Clark is professor of economics at the University of California, Davis.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is the most exciting research on the 'American Dream' of social mobility to come along in many years. The Son Also Rises provides deep insights into not only the ability or inability of children to surpass their parents' socioeconomic class, but also into the surprising importance of the family to generate prosperity in general."—William Easterly, author of The White Man's Burden

"The Son Also Rises is a remarkable challenge to conventional wisdom about social mobility. Using highly original methods and ranging widely across world history, Clark argues that the activities of governments impact mobility much less than most of us think—and that the only sure path to success is to be born to the right parents. Everyone interested in public policy should read this book."—Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules—for Now

"An important and original contribution to the literature on social mobility, The Son Also Rises is provocative and adversarial, and a brilliant tour de force. Bravo!"—Cormac Ó Gráda, author of Famine: A Short History

"The Son Also Rises is clever, thoughtful, and well written, and provides a completely new perspective on an enduring issue—the extent of social mobility. This very provocative book will garner a great deal of attention."—Joseph P. Ferrie, Northwestern University

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Introduction: Of Ruling Classes and Underclasses: The Laws of Social Mobility 1

PART I Social Mobility by Time and Place

2 Sweden: Mobility Achieved? 19

3 The United States: Land of Opportunity 45

4 Medieval England: Mobility in the Feudal Age 70

5 Modern England: The Deep Roots of the Present 88

6 A Law of Social Mobility 107

7 Nature versus Nurture 126

PART II Testing the Laws of Mobility

8 India: Caste, Endogamy, and Mobility 143

9 China and Taiwan: Mobility after Mao 167

10 Japan and Korea: Social Homogeneity and Mobility 182

11 Chile: Mobility among the Oligarchs 199

12 The Law of Social Mobility and Family Dynamics 212

13 Protestants, Jews, Gypsies, Muslims, and Copts: Exceptions to the Law of Mobility? 228

14 Mobility Anomalies 253

PART III The Good Society

15 Is Mobility Too Low? Mobility versus Inequality 261

16 Escaping Downward Social Mobility 279

Appendix 1: Measuring Social Mobility 287

Appendix 2: Deriving Mobility Rates from Surname Frequencies 296

Appendix 3: Discovering the Status of Your Surname Lineage 301

Data Sources for Figures and Tables 319

References 333

Index 349