Meaning of Family
Famous Greek Philosopher Aristotle opines that Man is a social animal. He never lives alone. An utterly isolated individual is unthinkable. He begins his day as a member of a group, i.e., family. Hence of all human groups, the family is the most important primary group. No known society, ancient or modern, is free from the family system. The family has undergone several changes over time, as Burgess and Locke put it ‘from a hard and fast social structure or institution and becoming a flexible relationship.’
However, family is a unique social institution that has no substitute. It is the basic unit of social organization. Family is the nucleus of all social structures and continues to be the most stable association and institution of human society. Society is a conglomeration of families. No society or civilization ever exists without family. It plays a significant role in the development of the personality of an individual and also in the process of socialization.
The term ‘family’ has been derived from the Roman word ‘Famulus’ which means a servant. In Roman law, the word refers to the group of producers and slaves and servants and members of common descent. A family is a small group that consists of a father, mother, and children who are related to each other by kinship ties based on marriage, blood, or adoption. A family is a biological unit that consists of parents and children.
Family refers to the group comprising parents and children. It may also refer, in some cases, to a group of relatives and their dependants forming one household. All these refer to the compositional aspect of this institution. Another aspect is that of residence of its members.
They usually share common residences, at least for some part of their lives. Thirdly, there is the relational aspect of the family. Members have reciprocal rights and duties towards each other. Finally, the family is also an agent of socialization. All these aspects make this institution different from all other units of social structure.
Definition of Family
As Mack and Young say, “The family is the basic primary group and the natural matrix of personality.”
According to Maclverand Page, “Family is a group defined by a sex relationship, sufficiently precise and enduring to provide for the procreation and upbringing of children.”
According to Burgess and Locke, “Family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or adoption; consisting a single household, interacting and intercommunicating with each other in their social roles of husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister creating a common culture.”
As K. Davis defines, “Family is a group of persons whose relations to one another are based upon consanguinity and who are, therefore, kin to one another.”
According to Elliot and Meril, “Family is the biological social unit composed of husband, wife and children.”
Ogburn and Nimkoff said, “Family is a more or less durable association of husband and wife, with or without child, or of a man or woman alone, with children.”
Biesanz writes, “The family may be described as a woman with a child and a man to look after them.”
Strictly it can also be defined; family consists of parents and children. Its members are more closely related to one another through the process of reproduction. It is a universal institution found in every age and in every society.
Distinctive features of the family
The family is an organization par excellence. Of all the social organizations, large or small, family is of the greatest sociological significance. It occupies the central position in our social structure. The family, unlike other institutions, enjoys a unique position in society.
Maclver has elaborated the distinctive features of family as follows-
Universality:
Family is the most basic universal social unit. It is found worldwide and in every type of culture, and there is no substitute for family. Civilizations rise and collapse, but the family lives forever. The family, therefore, is a universal group.
Emotional basis:
A family integrates all the family members in a coherent unit based on emotional closeness. Affection towards each other, mutual co-operation and blood ties are the integrative bonds of the family. This emotional bond ensures early education, cultural transmission, and mutual trust. Thus, the family becomes a true shelter for the people in this hostile and competitive world
Limited Size:
The family is tiny in size. It is known as the smallest primary group. It is a small social institution. It includes husband and wife and the persons who are born in it or are adopted. The relations among the members of the family are direct, intimate, close, personal, and permanent. This is possible only due to the small size of the family. Further, the smallness of the family brings stability to the family.
Nuclear position in social structures:
The family is the nucleus of all other social organizations. The whole social structure is built of family units. It influences the whole life of society. The newly born child has to be taught and disciplined properly, and only then can he be adjusted to the wider world. This purpose is served only by the family.
Responsibility of the Members:
The members of the family have a deep sense of responsibility and obligation for the family. Due to this sense of responsibility, the entire members discharge their duties. All the members of the family have joint responsibility. In the family, the children learn about responsibility and cooperation.
Formative influence:
The family is the earliest social environment that surrounds, trains, and educates the child. It shapes the personality and moulds the character of its members.
Social regulation:
Family unity is maintained, and the adjustment between the family and society becomes possible due to social regulations. The social restrictions enable the members to behave in a socially useful manner, and family is believed to be a strong basis on which society’s fabric is dependent to a great extent. Thus, for example, there are social restrictions on divorce in almost every society.
Persistence and Change:
The family may be permanent and temporary by nature. As an institution, it is permanent. When a couple after marriages settle in an independent residence, the family continues to exist with other members. Hence, family is permanent as an institution. Family, on the other hand, is temporary and transitional. Because the structure of the family changes over time in terms of size, composition, and status of persons.
Sometimes we find two brothers of the same family living separately with their wives and children, but they are bound by a number of relationships of many kinds, thereby giving a new dimension to the composition and nature of family in modern times.
Types or Forms of Family
No doubt, family is a universal social organization. But its forms, structure or types vary from society to society and from time to time. Due to variation in life, social values, culture and a host of other factors, different types of family are found to exist. Hence it is really difficult to classify family. But sociologists and anthropologists made an attempt to classify families. They classify families on a different basis. However, different types or classifications of the family are as follows:
Based on size and structure:
Based on size and structure or according to the number of members, the family may be classified into two types: nuclear family and joint family or extended family.
Nuclear Family:
A nuclear family is a family which consists of a husband, wife, and unmarried children. The size of the nuclear family is very small. It is an autonomous unit. There is no control of the elders because newlyweds crate a separate residence for themselves, which is independent of elders. It is also known as the primary family. It is an ideal family. Murdock divides the nuclear family into two types: the family of orientation and the family of procreation.
The family in which an individual is born, reared, and socialized is known as the orientation family. It consists of a father, mother, brother, and sister. On the other hand, the family of procreation refers to the family established by the person through marriage. It consists of husband, wife, sons, and daughters.
Joint or Extended Family:
An extended or joint family is large in size. It consists of a number of nuclear families. It includes members of three to four generations. It is an extension of the parent-child relationship. This family is based on close blood ties. It is like the joint family of Hindu Society. The eldest male member is the head of the family. Children of the family, even after their marriage, has little importance. The extended family consists of a father, mother, sons and their wife, unmarried daughters, grandchildren, grandfather, grandmother, uncles, aunts, their children, and so on. This type of family is found to exist in rural communities or agrarian economies.
Based on marriage practices:
Based on marriage practices, sociologist has classified family into the following types such as:
Monogamous Family:
This family is based on the Monogamy System of marriage, hence known as the Monogamous family. This family consists of a husband and his wife. Under this type of family system, neither husband nor wife is allowed to have more than one spouse at a time. Both of them are also prohibited from having an extra-marital relationship. It has many other advantages because of which it is considered the ideal form of marriage all over the world.
Polygamous Family:
This type of family is based on the polygamy system of marriage. As in polygamy, one man marries more than one woman and vice-versa; hence, two types of family systems exist, such as polyandrous and polygamous families.
Polyandrous family:
This family is based on a polyandry system of marriage in which one woman marries more than one man at a time. Accordingly, a polyandrous family consists of one woman and her several husbands. She may live with all of her husbands or may live with each, of them alternatively. This type of family is found among the Toda’s and in Kashmir to Assam area and among Eskimos.
Polygamous family:
This type of family is based on the polygamy system of marriage. As in polygamy, one man is allowed to marry more than one wife at a time. Accordingly, a polygamous family consists of a husband and his several wives and their children. In this type of family, all the wives may stay together with their children or have a separate household. This type of family is found among the Muslims and among tribal of America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. In India, this type of family is found among the Nagas of Central India and among Bengal’s Kulins.
Endogamous Family:
This type of family is based on the endogamic principles of marriage. According to endogamic principles, a man is supposed to marry within one’s group i.e., within one’s caste, sub-caste, race, varna, and class. Accordingly, the family which practices the rules of endogamy in marriage is known as the endogamous family.
Exogamous Family:
This type of family is based on the exogamic rules of marriage. According to these rules, one has to marry outside one’s group i.e., outside one’s own gotra, private, pinda, and village. Accordingly, the family which practices the rules of exogamy in marriage is known as exogamous family.
Based on Authority:
Based on power and authority family may be classified into the following types such as:
Patriarchal Family:
The family in which all the power remains in the patriarch or father’s hands is known as a patriarchal family. In other words, in this type of family, power or authority is vested in the hands of the eldest male member of the family who is supposed to be the father. He exercises absolute power or authority over the other members of the family. He owns the family property.
After his death, authority transferred to the eldest son of the family. In this family, the descent is known through the father line. In this type of family wife, after marriage comes to reside in his husband’s house. This type of family is widely found all over the world Joint family system among the Hindus is a fine example of a patriarchal family.
Matriarchal family:
This type of family is just the opposite of a patriarchal family. In this family, power or authority rests on the eldest female family member, especially the wife or mother. She enjoys absolute power or authority over other members of the family. She owns all the family property. In this family, the descent is known through the mother.
Headship is transferred from the mother to the eldest daughter. The husband remains subordinate to his wife in a matriarchal family. The daughter after marriage resides in her mother’s house, and her husband lives with her. This type of family is found among the Nayers of Kerala and among the Garo and Khasi tribes of Assam.
Egalitarian family:
The family in which power and authority are equally shared between husband and wife is called an egalitarian family. Both of them make joint decisions or assume joint responsibility. That is why it is called an equalitarian family. In this type of family, both son and daughter jointly inherit property equally.
Based on Residence:
Based on residence family may be classified into the following types:
Patrilocal family:
The family in which after marriage wife comes to reside in her husband’s family is known as patrilocal family. The patrilocal family is also patriarchal and patrilineal in nature.
Matrilocal family:
The family in which after marriage husband comes to reside in her wife’s family is known as matrilocal family. It is just the opposite of the patrilocal family. This type of family is also Matriarchal and Matrilineal in nature.
Bilocal family:
In this type of family, after marriage, the married couple changes their residence alternatively. Sometimes wife joins in her husband’s house while at some other times husband resides in the wife’s house. That is why this type of family is also known as a family of changing residence.
Neolocal family:
After marriage, when a newly married couple established a new family independent of their parents and settled at a new place, this type of family is known as a neo-local family.
Avunculocal family:
After marriage, when the newly married couple resides in the maternal uncle’s house, the said type of family is known as avunculocal family. ‘Avuncu’ means maternal uncle.
Family-based on the descent:
On the basis of rules of descent or ancestry, the family may be classified into the following types:
Unilateral (Unilineal) descent: The two types of unilineal descents are patrilineal descent and matrilineal descent, where kins from father’s side and mother’s side are respectively recognized.
Patrilineal descent:
This type of family is a common type of family prevalent all over the world. The family in which descent or ancestry is determined through the father line and continues through the father is known as a patrilineal family. The property and family name are also inherited through the father’s line. The patrilineal family is also patrilocal and patriarchal in nature.
Matrilineal descent:
The matrilineal family is just the opposite of the patrilineal family. A family in which descent is determined through the mother line or continues through the mother is known as a Matrilineal family. The property and family name are also inherited through the mother line. This right is transferred from mother to daughter. A woman is the ancestor of the family. The Matrilineal family is Matrilocal and Matriarchal in nature. This type of family was found among the Nayers of Kerala and tribals like Garos and Khasis.
Bilineal family:
This family type is the family in which descent or ancestry is traced or determined or run through both father and mother
Based on blood relationship:
Based-on relationships, a family may be classified into conjugal and consanguineous families who are described below:
Conjugal family:
The conjugal family consists of the husband’s wife, their children, and some relatives added through marriage. This family is like a nuclear family and exhibits some of its characteristics.
Consanguineous family:
This type of family consists of close blood relatives along with their mates and children.
Indian family life is based on some universally acknowledged principles. The sanctity of domestic life, of such loyal relationship between father and son, brother and sister, man and wife, the relationships are strengthened by intimate values and reciprocity. The need for an agrarian economy ever encouraged joint family values. Family life has always been cherished and often associated with but a popular one in the Indian context.
Function of family
Family is the most primary group in society. It is the simplest and the most elementary form of society. It is the first and the most immediate social environment to which a child is exposed. It is in the family that the child develops physically, psychologically and socially.
The reasons for the Universal existence of family can be explained through the functions played by the family. Maclver classifies into two categories as essential and non-essential functions.
Essential or primary functions:
Stable satisfaction of sex needs:
Sex desire is powerful in human beings. Family regulates the sexual behaviour of a man and a woman through marriage. Thus, it provides for the satisfaction of the sex need.
Reproduction or Procreation:
The process of reproduction is institutionalized in the family. Hence, it assumes regularity and stability that all societies recognize as desirable. Family makes the act of reproduction a legitimate act.
Provision of Home:
Family performs the function of providing a home for common living to all its members. It is only in a home that children are born and brought up. Even if children are born in hospitals in modern times, they are still taken care of and properly nourished in a home. Because family or home has no substitute. In a home, all the family members live together, and a child is brought up under the strict vigilance of all its members. A home provides emotional and psychological support to all its members. All the members need a home to live happily with peace, comfort and protection.
Socialization:
It is another important essential function of the family. It is said that man is not born human but made human. The newborn human baby became a human being after they are socialized. Family plays an important role in the socialization process.
It is one of the primary agents of socialization. Living in a family human baby learns norms, values, morals and ideals of society. He learns the culture and acquires character through the process of socialization. His personality develops in the course of his living in a family. From family, he learns what is right and wrong and what is good or bad. Through socialization, he became a social man and acquires good character.
Non-essential or secondary functions:
Economic function:
The family fulfills the economic needs of its members. This has been the traditional function of a family. The income generated by the members is used for the development and progress of the family.
Educational function:
Another important role of the family is to provide education and enable its members to socialize. The family provides the basis for the child’s formative learning. Parents teach society’s culture and tradition, the dos and don’ts of society, and its values at home. The family is also responsible for the shaping up of the personality of the individual members.
Religious functions:
The family is the centre of all religious activities. All the family members offer their prayers together and observe different religious ceremonies, religious rites, rituals, and practices. Children learn different religious values and virtues from their parents. Living in spiritual atmosphere spirituality develops among the children. It is through the family that religious inheritance is passed on to the next generation.
Health-related functions:
Family as a primary social group performs several health related functions for its members. It looks after the health and vigour of its members. It takes care of the sick old and aged persons of the family. By providing necessary nutritious food to its members family takes care of the health of all.
Of course, the modern family delegates some of its health-related functions to the hospital. The child is born today in a hospital or in a clinic and taken care of by nurses.
Recreational function:
The family performs several recreational functions for its members by entertaining them in various ways. Loud reading, singing, dancing, story-telling and playing in-door games etc, bring together the entire family. In the ancient period family was the only centre of recreation. The family celebrated different festivals together, organized picnics and family feasts. The grandparents taught moral values through story-telling which was effective as well as entertaining. The effect of this on the cohesion of the family was considerable.
Cultural functions:
The family also performs several cultural functions as well. It preserves different cultural traits. Man learns and acquires culture from family and transmits it to succeeding generations. That is why family is considered the centre of culture.
Social functions:
The family performs a number of social functions. It teaches about social customs, mores, traditions, norms, etiquette to the coming generations. Family exercises social control over its members and bring them into conformity with accepted standards. Senior members of the family directly control the behaviour of children and thereby they became good citizens.
The family roles are changing with time but even now family persists as the most fundamental social unit. People in a complex, competitive world are always searching for a cordial and safe corner and they are still interested in making a family consisting of parents, children and siblings.
JOINT FAMILY
Meaning of joint family
Family is one of the universal and permanent institutions of mankind. In every society and at every stage of development we found some sort of family. As a result, we found different types of families all over the world. But in India, we found a peculiar family system that deserves special attention. The family in India does not consist only of husband, wife and their children but also of uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandsons. This system is called the joint family or extended family system. This joint family system is a peculiar characteristic of Indian social life. Usually, a son after marriage does not separate himself from the parents but continues to live under the same roof eating food cooked at one hearth participating in common worship and holding property in common. Every person has shared in it. All the joint family members keep their earnings in a common fund out of which family expenses are met. Accordingly, the Indian joint family system is like a socialistic community where every member earns according to his capacity and receives according to his needs. This joint family or extended family is organized on close blood relationships. It normally consists of members of three to four generations. In other words, a joint family is a collection of more than one primary family based on close blood ties and common residence. All the members are bound by mutual obligations and have a common ancestor. It consists of his wife and married sons their children and unmarried daughter, his brothers and their family and his parents.
Definition of joint family
Some of the definitions given by different sociologists are as follows:
According to Irawati Karve, defines joint family is “a group of people, who generally live under one roof, eat food cooked at one hearth, hold property in common, participate in common family worship, and are related to each other as some particular type of kindred.”
According to K. M. Kapadia, “Joint family is a group formed not only of a couple and their children but also other relations either from father’s side or from mother’s side depending on whether the joint family is patrilineal or matrilineal.”
According to Henery Maine, “The Hindu joint family is a group constituted of known ancestors and adopted sons and relatives related to these sons through marriage.”
According to K. Devis, “The joint family consists of males having a common male ancestor female offspring not yet married and women brought into the group by marriage.
All of these persons might live in a common household or in several households near to one another. In any case, so long as the joint family holds together, its members are expected to contribute to the support of the whole and receive from it a share of the total product.”
Causes of Disintegration of Joint Family:
The causes responsible for the disintegration of the joint family system are as follows.
Industrialization:
With the British’s advent in India, a process of industrialization started which brought about far-reaching changes in Indian social and economic life. Industrialization resulted in the flow of the rural population to the urban areas.
People moved from rural areas to urban areas for jobs and a better standard of living, breaking their joint family relationships. Thus, modern industries shattered the very foundation of the joint family system in India.
The geographical mobility of some of the members of the joint family has affected the traditional structure of the joint family as well as the relations among the members. Jobs in the factory have freed young men from direct dependence upon their families and from the control of the heads of the households. Hence, industrialization has created a new socio-psychological setting in which traditional joint family survival has become difficult.
Urbanization:
Along with the process of industrialization, the process of urbanization has resulted in the weakening of the joint family system in India. The urban population has grown at a faster rate in our country in the last few decades.
The result of urbanization has been the establishment of nuclear families because urban-dwellers choose nuclear families. Urbanization has emphasized individuality and privacy which encourage the establishment of independent family units. M.S. Gore has maintained that the urban families shift away from joint family norms in their attitudes, role perceptions, and behaviour.
A change in attitude towards joint family is evident among the urban educated persons. In addition, the women who have got gainful jobs seek more freedom in many aspects. Therefore, they try to restrict kinship ties.
Louis Wirth also believed that the city is not conducive to the traditional type of family life. According to him, as a unit of social life, the family is emancipated from the larger kinship group characteristics of the village and the individual members pursue their divergent interests in their vocational, educational, religious, recreational” and political life.
Education:
Education has affected the joint family system in more ways than one. It has brought about changes in attitudes, beliefs, values and ideologies of the people. These changes are visible among both males and females who are educated. Education has also created individualistic attitudes among educated persons. Hence, education has worked against the maintenance of the joint family system.
I. P. Desai and A. D. Ross have highlighted the role of education against the joint family in two ways. One, by emphasizing individualism, puts before the people the concept of the type of family contrary to the joint family system. Two, it prepares the people for occupations that cannot be found in their native places. As a result, they get themselves separated from the ancestral family and live in areas that provide them with occupations suited to their education. In course of time, these people lose contact with parental family. They imbibe new ways of living and thinking which are damaging to the joint family sentiment.
Enlightenment of Women:
The educated Indian women are impressed by modern family life. They have become conscious of their rights and equality with men. They have started making use of educational and employment opportunities.
Education and jobs for women have brought about tremendous changes in their status. At present they earn their living. This gives them a sense of independence. The effect of jobs for women has been towards equality. Thus, the rise in women’s status and their economic independence have adversely affected the joint family system.
The Impact of Western Culture:
The impact of Western culture can be seen in many ways. First, it resulted in the ideals of liberty and equality. Second, it resulted in individualism. Third, it resulted in materialism. As a combined result of this Western influence, the old and traditional Hindu values underwent tremendous changes and the very nature of joint living was affected.
Change in Marriage System:
Change in age of marriage, freedom in mate selection and change in the attitude of individuals towards marriage have also affected the joint family system. The head of the family less and less determines the choice of the marriage partners.
People are less subject to parental control and other forms of social pressure regarding whom and when they shall marry. The older external and one-sided control is replaced by the choice of mate. This has weakened the patriarchal control over the family and family mores.
Social Legislations:
The joint family system has received a great setback from several legislations. These legislations are:
The Hindu law of Inheritance, 1929
Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act, 1937
Special Marriage Act, 1954
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
Hindu Succession Act, 1956
Dowry Restraint Act, 1961
These Acts have modified the inter-personal relations and the composition of the family and the stability of the joint family. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 has brought about fundamental changes in the Hindu joint family structure by conferring equal rights on women in inheritance. Special Marriage Act, 1954, permitted the freedom of mate selection and marriage in any caste and religion without the parent’s consent. This has affected the marriage system to a large extent.
Over-Population:
Over-population has caused excessive pressure on agricultural and residential land. Agriculture no longer provides employment to the ever-increasing number of people depending on it. The poor and the unemployed desert their homes in search of employment elsewhere.
When they get employment in distant places, they naturally set up their separate families there and gradually their links with joint families become weak.
The problem of Accommodation:
Another factor adversely affecting the joint family structure in India is the problem of accommodation. This problem is especially acute in large cities. A small house in the city cannot provide accommodation to all the members of a joint family. The members find it difficult to live together. Hence, they are forced to establish their separate families.
The decline in Agriculture and Village Industries:
The joint family system emerged as a product of an agrarian society. The villagers depended on agriculture as well as agro-based college industries. But the commodities produced by the village artisans and craftsmen could not stand the competition brought about by the price and quality of goods produced in the factories.
As a result, there was a decline in village industries and finally, these were closed down. Hence, the pauperized peasants and ruined artisans in rural areas went to the industrial and urban centres searching for employment. This has disintegrated the joint family.
Extension of Communication and Transport:
Difficulties of transport and communication compelled all the family members to live together and carry on the family occupation in agriculture and trade jointly.
They were relatively immobile. But with the rapid development of transport and communication, people have become more and more mobile. Now they move to different places in search of various kinds of jobs and employment. They also adopt trade at different places. All these have caused the breakdown of the traditional joint family system.
Family Quarrels:
Conflict or family quarrel has caused the breakdown of the joint family system. Conflicts regarding family property, income and expenditure, unequal distribution of work at home, and personal clashes between women lead to joint families’ break-up.
Mental uneasiness in a joint family is sometimes inevitable as a result of its size and sometimes because of economic strains. There is a growing desire among young men and women to live far away from their families.
The joint family system is indeed disintegrating. This integration is more evident in big cities and industrial centres than in rural areas.
Impact of Industrialization on Joint Family System of India
The factory system of production, a new system of organization and management, and a new style of life have affected India’s joint family system. It has made young men and women leave their joint families to faraway places searching for better prospects and employment. it has resulted in the breakdown of the link between kinship and the occupational structure. Many of the traditional skills, crafts, and household industries associated with the joint family have declined because of the onslaught system of production. Some important effects of Industrialization on the Joint family system may be noted down:
The family which was a principal unit of production has been transformed into a consumption unit. Instead of all the family members working together in an integrated economic enterprise, a few male members go out of the home to earn the family’s living. This affected family relations.
Factory employment has freed young adults from direct dependence upon their families. The youngsters’ financial independence has weakened the authority of the head of the household over those earning members. In many cities, even women too joined men in working outside the families on a salary basis. This has boosted the morale of women.
In the changed social situation children have ceased to be economic assets and have become liabilities. Children’s educational requirements have increased. They are too being supported for a very long time till they get into some good jobs.
Industrialization separated the home from the work. This has made the working members bear themselves all the burdens and headaches connected with their jobs. Their families can hardly lend support in this regard.
Impact of industrialization on family
There were both positive and negative effects to industrialization.
Negative:
Divorce rates increased, as well as rates of suicide and depression. Industrialization led to an increase in pollution as fossil fuels like coal were burned in large amounts when used in industrial machines. It also led to an increase in child labour, as more and more children of younger and younger ages worked to help support their families. Many worked in textile industries (often as repairmen who were supposed to crawl in amongst the dangerous moving parts without stopping the machine) or as the power source for hauling the mine cars used in underground coal mine shafts. This led to many children with health issues, malnutrition, stunted growth, physical deformities, missing and mangled appendages, and death. The rate of alcohol consumption greatly increased, as men began to spend more and more time after work in pubs and bars instead of at home (directly tied to rates of depression and divorce). Families spent less time together, as they were either working or too exhausted from 12-14 hour days. Rapid urbanization led to poorly planned cities that were overcrowded, dirty, and poorly sanitized. This led to an increase in disease, and city dwellers consumed outbreaks of infectious diseases such as cholera as tainted water supplies It also led to a decrease in homemade goods as the main source of finished goods. Cheaper, faster-made products replaced personalization, creativity, and family businesses.
Positives:
Urbanization as more and more people moved to cities to find work. It led to our modern ideas of consumer society, as people began to choose different brands to buy, based on everything from the price to quality, to designs, patterns, and colours. Companies began to make different models of things to attract more buyers, which could be seen as the beginning of modern capitalism. It led to an increase in technology, as more and more machines were invented and used to increase the efficiency at which products were made, leading to lower prices and more availability. It was also the first time that a source of power, other than muscles power (human or animal,) was used to create products. It led to a more connected world, as new technology like trains, steam engines, and railroads designed to more quickly transport goods, were also used to better connect people. It helped establish the industrialized nations (mainly England and America) as the dominant world powers. It would eventually lead to more rights for workers and the concept of the modern working conditions we have, although at the start this would not have been true. It helped women begin to break the domesticity cult, as more and more young, unmarried women got jobs.
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