Social Mobility among the Shias

Social mobility study is one of the traditional and authentic ways to understand the nature of social stratification in a society. It describes an individual or community’s chances of moving up or down in the social ladder. Following the theoretical and empirical tradition of mobility studies, this book, an outcome of M.Phil dissertation of the author, examines the social mobility pattern in four generations of Shia Muslims in Lucknow. Methodologically, the critical lens explores 50 family genealogies to understand the inter-generational mobility in Shia community through the condition of education, occupation and the status of women in their families. Along with mobility, this study also gives a glimpse of the growth of Shiaism in Oudh and its ruling class Nawabs. This book will be of interest to sociologists, ethnographers and non-government agencies engaged in minority affairs.