Educational Capital, Family Background and Social Positioning in mid-19th Century Serbia

Vuletić, Aleksandra (2025) Educational Capital, Family Background and Social Positioning in mid-19th Century Serbia. Istraživanja, 36. pp. 69-80. ISSN 0350-2112; ISSN Online 2406-1131

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Abstract

This paper explores different pathways to higher education in mid-19th-century Serbia and its role in upward social mobility. It compares representatives of two groups: students from modest backgrounds who earned European university degrees through state scholarships and the sons of prominent figures whose education was funded by family resources. Focusing on Radivoje Milojković and Jevrem Grujić from the first group, and the sons of Vuk Karadžić and Ilija Garašanin from the second, the analysis shows that educational capital often outweighed family background as a driver of mobility. It also traces the mid-century shift in societal attitudes toward children’s education, reflecting the broader transition from traditional to modern structures

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