Horizontal mobility and possibilities of its actualization

Social mobility in literature and scientific works is often associated with one of its sides - vertical mobility. Naturally, the issues related to the class structure of society and the change of status are of greater research interest than those focused on the description of general quantitative statistics. Despite the formal role of horizontal mobility as a less meaningful area of stratification, it can be used to obtain no less interesting information about the dynamics of society as a whole, and about the private principles of social institutions. This paper attempts to describe in detail the main provisions of P. Sorokin on the structure of horizontal mobility and its relevance. First, his initial ideas about social groupings are given and the differences in their types are shown, and then the main types of social mobility are presented, as well as the limits of their applicability in the context of vertical and horizontal mobility. After highlighting the main content of horizontal mobility, the paper analyzes the current state of this area of research. The main problems in distinguishing between vertical and horizontal mobility are noted, and what possible solutions to the dichotomy can be. It also shows which modern theoretical research directions the study of horizontal mobility is connected with.