Sociology
November 15th
56 Up Throughout a lifetime, one may not realize all the changes that take place; however, Michael Apted managed to record the many changes an individual goes through and turn it in to his documentary, 56 Up. This documentary is about the lives of the same group of people over the course of 56 years. The interviews started when they were 7, and then they continued every seven years. The final interview takes place when they are all 56 years old. 56 Up contains many sociological terms, such as the various types of social mobility.
To begin, one sociological term used in this documentary is social mobility. 56 Up represents many of the types of mobility with the subjects. First, Sue shows intragenerational mobility. Sue is a woman who at 56 works in the administration department of a big university in London, despite never going to college. Typically, women with no education are in a lower class; however, Sue moved up within her lifetime, which demonstrates intragenerational mobility. Along with this, Sue experienced vertical mobility. Sue experienced vertical mobility within her job changes. Her part time jobs were viewed as lower than her administrative job now.
Paul, on the other hand, started in a lower class. He lived in a children’s home and never went to college. His daughter, Katie, was the first in the family to ever attend a university. This shows intergenerational mobility because going to college and getting a good education could lead to a higher social class. Since this is experienced through more than one generation, it is intergenerational mobility rather than intragenerational. Paul also experienced horizontal mobility with his job changes. He never went to school and had factory, building, and maintenance jobs. All these jobs are in the same social class, so he didn’t necessarily move up or down. These two subjects