Period of social and economic change from agrarian to industrial society
The effect of industrialisation shown by rising income levels in the 19th century, includinggross national product atpurchasing power parityper capita between 1750 and 1900 in 1990U.S. dollars for theFirst World, including Western Europe, United States, Canada and Japan, andThird World nations of Europe, Southern Asia, Africa, and Latin America[1]The effect of industrialisation is also shown by rising levels of CO2 emissions.[2]Industrialisation also means the mechanisation of traditionally manual economic sectors such as agriculture.Factories, refineries, mines, andagribusiness are all elements of industrialisation.
The reorganisation of the economy has manyunintended consequences both economically and socially. As industrial workers' incomes rise, markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds tend to expand and provide a further stimulus to industrialinvestment andeconomic growth. Moreover, family structures tend to shift as extended families tend to no longer live together in one household, location or place.
The first transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy is known as theIndustrial Revolution and took place from the mid-18th to early 19th century. It began in Great Britain, spreading to Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and France and eventually to other areas inEurope and North America.[4] Characteristics of this early industrialisation were technological progress, a shift from rural work to industrial labour, and financial investments in new industrial structures.[5] Later commentators have called this the First Industrial Revolution.[6]
The "Second Industrial Revolution" labels the later changes that came about in the mid-19th century after the refinement of thesteam engine, the invention of theinternal combustion engine, the harnessing ofelectricity and the construction of canals, railways, and electric-power lines. The invention of theassembly line gave this phase a boost. Coal mines, steelworks, and textile factories replaced homes as the place of work.[7][8][9]
By the end of the 20th century,East Asia had become one of the most recently industrialised regions of the world.[10]
There is considerable literature on the factors facilitating industrial modernisation and enterprise development.[11]
An 1886 portrait byRobert Koehler depicting agitated workers facing a factory owner in astrike
TheIndustrial Revolution was accompanied by significant changes in the social structure, the main change being a transition from farm work to factory-related activities.[12] This has resulted in the concept ofSocial class, i.e., hierarchical social status defined by an individual's economic power. It has changed the family system as most people moved into cities, withextended family living apart becoming more common. The movement into more dense urban areas from less dense agricultural areas has consequently increased the transmission of diseases. The place of women in society has shifted from primary caregivers to breadwinners, thus reducing the number of children per household. Furthermore, industrialisation contributed to increased cases ofchild labour and thereafter education systems.[13][14][15]
As the Industrial Revolution was a shift from the agrarian society, people migrated from villages in search of jobs to places where factories were established. This shifting of rural people led to urbanisation and an increase in the population of towns. The concentration of labour in factories has increased urbanisation and the size of settlements, to serve and house the factory workers.
Family structure changes with industrialisation. SociologistTalcott Parsons noted that in pre-industrial societies there is anextended family structure spanning many generations who probably remained in the same location for generations. In industrialised societies thenuclear family, consisting of only parents and their growing children, predominates. Families and children reaching adulthood are more mobile and tend to relocate to where jobs exist. Extended family bonds become more tenuous.[16] One of the most important criticisms of industrialisation is that it caused children to stay away from home for many hours and to use them as cheap workers in factories.[17][18][15]
2006GDP by sector and labour force by occupation with the green, red, and blue components of the colours of the countries representing the percentages for the agriculture, industry, and services sectors, respectively
^Griffin, Emma, A Short History of the British Industrial Revolution. In 1850 over 50 percent of the British lived and worked in cities. London: Palgrave (2010)
^Sampath, Padmashree Gehl (2016). "Sustainable Industrialization in Africa: Toward a New Development Agenda".Sustainable Industrialization in Africa. Springer. p. 6.doi:10.1007/978-1-137-56112-1_1.ISBN978-1-349-57360-8.Contemporary notions of industrialization can be traced back to the experience of Great Britain, Western Europe and North America during the 19th and early 20th centuries (Nzau, 2010). The literature that reviews the experiences of these countries seems to agree that, although the early-industrializing countries started at different stages of growth, they followed more or less a similar format of change that led to their transformation. Marked by the shift from a subsistence/agrarian economy to more industrialised/mechanised modes of production, hallmarks of industrialization include technological advance, widespread investments into industrial infrastructure, and a dynamic movement of labor from agriculture into manufacturing (Lewis, 1978; Todaro, 1989; Rapley, 1994).
^Pollard, Sidney: Peaceful Conquest. The Industrialisation of Europe 1760–1970, Oxford 1981.
^Buchheim, Christoph: Industrielle Revolutionen. Langfristige Wirtschaftsentwicklung in Großbritannien, Europa und in Übersee, München 1994, S. 11-104.
^Jones, Eric: The European Miracle: Environments, Economics and Geopolitics in the History of Europe and Asia, 3. ed. Cambridge 2003.
^Henning, Friedrich-Wilhelm: Die Industrialisierung in Deutschland 1800 bis 1914, 9. Aufl., Paderborn/München/Wien/Zürich 1995, S. 15-279.
^Prügl, Elisabeth (1999). The Global Construction of Gender - Home based work in Political Economy of 20th Century. Columbia University Press. pp. 25–31, 50–59.
^Hugh Cunningham; Pier Paolo Viazzo, eds. (1996). Child Labour in Historical Perspective: 1800-1985 (PDF). UNICEF. ISBN 978-88-85401-27-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2015.
Hewitt, T., Johnson, H. and Wield, D. (Eds) (1992)industrialisation and Development, Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Hobsbawm, Eric (1962):The Age of Revolution. Abacus.
Kemp, Tom (1993)Historical Patterns of Industrialisation, Longman: London.ISBN0-582-09547-6
Kiely, R (1998)industrialisation and Development: A comparative analysis, UCL Press:London.
Landes, David. S. (1969).The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present. Cambridge, New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.ISBN0-521-09418-6.
Pomeranz, Ken (2001)The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Princeton Economic History of the Western World) by (Princeton University Press; New Ed edition, 2001)
