ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the intersection and consolidation of multiple dimensions of social differences and how mobility is related to change in these structural conditions. The distinctive characteristic of the complex structures of modern societies and their large metropolitan centers is that they are delineated by many lines of social differentiation. Georg Simmel's concept of crosscutting circles centers attention on these numerous lines of differentiation and their implications. Many crosscutting social circles generate multiform heterogeneity. They produce a complex web of group affiliations, and individuals find themselves at the intersection of numerous groups. Ethnic intermarriage has been explained in terms of the shared religion of spouses, and increases in it as the result of cultural assimilation after two or three generations in United States. Structural mobility, which involves a change in a population distribution, is often distinguished from exchange mobility, which involves circulation within an unchanging distribution.
