Voluntary Social “Demotions”? The Determinants of Subjective Mobility among High-Status Workers Who Switched into Craftsmanship
Based on the French occupational classification, professional reorientations of high-status workers who switch into craftsmanship could be interpreted as voluntary social demotions. Yet, an in-depth analysis of such reorientations gives the opportunity to understand the motivations behind what first appears as a downward occupational mobility. It also allows to identify the different elements that shape the subjective mobility of these “neo-craftsmen”. In this paper, it is shown that these professional reorientations do not come with the feeling of being socially demoted. New representations of craftsmanship, occupational mobility and classifications are brought to light, questioning the link between occupational and social mobility as well as between subjective and objective mobility.