Intergenerational Mobility and Class Theory: A Reply to Kingston.

Kingston (1996) is incorrect to assert class theory assumes intergenerational immobility. Class theory simply assumes some class: structural mechanisms but such mechanisms do not presuppose immobility.. Relative mobility patterns illustrate one fundamental way that class mechanisms operate and class-structured relative mobility patterns coexist alongside substantial absolute mobility for good reason. Kingston's preference for absolute over relative mobility is not the basis for sustained scientific research into mobility regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]