For several years now, we have been observing an intensive resurgence of interest in class mobility. The broader context for this process is the return of discussions on social inequality, class hierarchies and identities to the public sphere. A unique feature of the contemporary moment is the multiplicity of academic disciplines researching social mobility, as well as an intensive re-evaluation of specific narratives of upward social mobility in Western capitalist cultures. The aim of the seminar is to compare the methodological perspectives of researchers representing several disciplines (or situated on their productive borderlands): economics (Paweł Bukowski, Marcin Wroński), history (Alexander Mayer), cultural studies (Jo Littler, Magda Szcześniak), literary studies (Morgane Cadieu), and sociology (Sam Friedman, Justyna Kajta, Krzysztof Świrek).
All the presenters have conducted important research on the topic of social upward mobility, social inequalities, and class relations and hierarchies. The results of these studies, however, often function in academic “silos,” and the flow between disciplines—their methodologies and sources—seems small. Similarly, a relatively insignificant part of the reflection on upward social mobility—its dynamics, the experiences of its subjects, cultural discourses— proposes a comparative approach, i.e. compares different moments and economic systems (different phases of capitalism, state socialism) and different cultural and social contexts. The aim of the seminar will thus be to: 1) ask about the relations between individual disciplines: their sources, tools, main theses; 2) investigate the possibility of designing productive, interdisciplinary, and comparative studies of social mobility.