Social class mobility in the early modern Europe: A first international comparison

Abstract

This article explores intergenerational social mobility in the preindustrial era, analyzing data from France, Germany, and Sweden. Using uniform coding schemes (HISCO, HISCLASS, HISCAM), the study examines total, upward, downward, and sectoral mobility, addressing two main questions: (1) How did social mobility change over time? (2) Are there variations between countries and regions? The findings reveal that in France, mobility increased irregularly from the 1720s to 1850, while data for Germany and Sweden are more fragmented. Sweden stands out for high downward mobility, often involving farmers' sons becoming laborers, but also shows surprising upward mobility into farming. The study concludes that premodern social structures were less stable than theorized and that revolutionary events, like the French Revolution, did not significantly impact male mobility (no Sorokin effect).