The industrial mode of production began
in England about 250 years ago. It became a very successful one and has since
spread all over the world. It has, in one way or the other, absorbed,
transformed or destroyed all other types of society in the process of its
emergence. The very invention of machines to produce goods has proved to be an
event of great historical importance.
Industrial societies have existed only in the very modern
era, dating from the industrialisation of Great Britain in the late 18th
century. The most advanced industrial societies today are found in North
America, Europe and East Asia including Japan, Taiwan, Hongkong and South
Korea. Countries such as India, Mexico, Brazil and some African countries have
also become industrialised to a great extent.
i. “In the simplest sense, an
industrial society is a social system whose mode of production focuses
primarily on finished goods manufactured with the aid of machinery.
ii. “In industrial societies, the
largest portion of the labour force is involved in mechanised production of
goods and services”
iii. “Industrial society refers to that
form of society, or any particular society in which industrialisation and
modernisation have occurred.”
The general term “industrial societies”
originates from Saint-Simon who chose it to reflect the emerging central role
of manufacturing industry in the 18th century Europe, in contrast with previous
pre-industrial and agrarian society. Characteristics of Industrial Society
Industrial Revolution spanning the late
18th to the early 19th centuries is an event of great socio-economic and
historical significance. “It transformed much of Europe and the United States
by replacing essentially agriculturally based societies with industrial
societies based on the use of machines and non-animal sources of energy to
produce finished goods”.
Industrialism is based on the
application of scientific knowledge to the technology of production, enabling
new energy sources to be harnessed. It permits machines to do the work that was
previously done by people or animals. It is a highly efficient subsistence
strategy. Because it allows a relatively small proportion of the population to
feed the majority.
Technology based on modern scientific
knowledge leads to higher rate of technological innovations. These innovations
in turn, bring about a flood of social changes. “New technologies’ such as the
steam engine, the internal combustion engine, electrical power, or atomic
energy tend to bring about social changes as the economic and other
institutions constantly adjust to altered conditions. Unlike other societies,
therefore, industrial societies are in a continual state of rapid social
change.”
The high levels of productivity of
industrial societies further stimulate population growth with increasing
members living in cities and metropolitan areas. Populations of these societies
often run to tens or hundreds of millions. In all the highly advanced
industrial societies a majority of the population prefers to live in urban
areas, where most jobs are located.
The growth rate of population increases
very sharply in the early stages of industrialism. New medical technologies and
improved living standards serve to extend life expectancy. But it is observed
that population size tends to stabilise in the later stages of industrialism as
the birth rate drops.
As industrialism spreads and population
grows, division of labour becomes highly complex. Industrial society creates
tens of thousands of new specialised jobs. More and more statuses are achieved
rather than ascribed. In the previous agricultural societies a person used to
become a lord or peasant through circumstances beyond personal control. But,
here in the industrial society, statuses as those of politicians, teachers,
advocates, mechanics, technicians, chartered accountants, engineers, doctors,
etc., could be achieved.
Family and kinship as social
institutions tend to lose their importance. The family loses many of its
functions. It no longer remains as a producing unit but has to be contented
with as a unit of consumption. It loses the main responsibility of educating
the younger ones. Kinship ties are also weakened. Kinship does not play an
important role in unifying and controlling people. The immediate neighbours
often become more important than the distant kins.
Religious institutions are no longer
playing an important role in controlling the behaviour of the people. The
influence of religious institutions as such shrinks markedly. People hold many
different and competing values and beliefs.
The world no longer remains as the
god-centered world or it is looked upon as the man-centered one. Various
technological and scientific developments have made religion to lose its hold
as an unquestioned source of moral authority.
For the first time, science emerges out
as a new and very important social institution. Ail technological innovations
depend on the growth and refinement of scientific knowledge. Science is looked
upon as a promising and an effective means of socio-economic progress.
Similarly, education has evolved into an independent and distinct institution.
Any industrial society for that matter
requires a literate population to understand and make use of the modern
technological innovations. For the first time, formal education becomes a
compulsory thing for majority of people rather than a luxury for the few.
Hereditary monarchies die out giving
place to more democratic institutions. State which assumes the central power in
the industrial society is more known for its welfare activities than for the
regulative functions. State is increasingly involved in the economic, educational,
medical, military and other activities.
States are equipped with the war
weapons to fight wars, but the actual outbreaks of war are relatively
infrequent. “One study of pre-industrial European societies found that over
periods of several centuries, they were at war, on the average, almost every
Second year. (Sorokin, 1937). In contrast, most European societies have been at
war only twice in the course of the century and some has not been at war at
all.” Warfare can be ruinous for an advanced industrial society for it involves
deadly war weapons and economic dislocations.
Industrialism, in its beginning stages,
is normally associated with the emergence of the two social classes- the rich
and the poor- between whom sharp inequalities are found. It also often widens
the gap between the rich and the poor, referred to by Marx as the haves and the
have-nots.
The rich class which is also known as
the capitalist class is branded as the exploiting class, and the poor class
known as the working class is sympathised as the exploited class. According to
Marx, these two classes are always at conflict. Phenomenal changes have taken
place in the industrial world especially after the death of Marx.
Most of his predictions have not come
true. However, the general trend of industrial societies is towards a steady
reduction in social inequalities, although, according to Lenski (1966), there
are some notable exceptions.
Industrial societies give rise to a
number of secondary groups such as corporations, political parties, business
houses, government bureaucracies, cultural and literary associations and
special- purpose organisations of various kinds. Primary groups tend to lose
their importance and more and more social life takes place in the context of
secondary groups. New life styles and values create a much more heterogeneous
culture which spreads its influence far and wide.
The overall characteristics of
industrial societies described above, tend to be broadly similar, partly as a
result of the effects of global mass communications and partly because
industrialism imposes certain basic requirements on social structure and
culture.
The industrial society is becoming more
and more dominant in the modern world extending its influence on the other
types of societies such as agricultural, horticultural, etc. It has become
highly successful in exploiting the natural environment in an effective manner.
But this success has caused “a variety
of problems as we witness in the form of -environment pollution, exhaustion of
scarce resources, over population, the destruction of traditional communities,
the disruption of kinship systems, mass anonymity, and a breakneck rate of
social change that constantly threatens to disorganise the existing social
structure”.
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