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Although economic, political, and social structures had been changing for at least a century prior, the Industrial Revolution did have a tremendous and far-reaching impact on reconfiguring socioeconomic classes. Industrial capitalism shifted the centers of economic power to the private sector, and economic systems became far more decentralized than ever before due to the emergence of market capitalism. The new economic regime necessitated new political institutions, which in turn transformed social structures. Nineteenth century social formations included a leisure class known as the bourgeoisie and the working class, known as the proletariat, while the new political ideologies that supported capitalism included liberalism and socialism.
Prior to the Enlightenment, European social, economic and political institutions were dependent on Church authority (Burke, n.d.). The French Revolution was a harbinger of the new social and political institutions like liberalism and socialism. Monarchic rule was a thing of the past; once the seeds of democracy were planted, it was impossible to prevent the reaping of social, economic, and political revolution. Thus, monarchs were perceived as “inexorable and cruel tyrants,” rather than as inevitable and necessary constraints on human life (Burke, n.d., p. 137). Centralization of wealth and power in church...
Colonization of the New World opened up free enterprise in ways that liberalized markets and stripped power from the old institutions.
Furthermore, Enlightenment philosophies inspired ordinary citizens to divert their allegiances from church and monarch towards free enterprise. Rousseau (n.d.) declared, “man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains,” a cry to revolution (p. 181). Rousseau also called into question how political systems and governments arise out of necessity, but governments are only legitimate when the people freely and voluntarily legitimize those in positions of power. Simmel (1971) also points out how the zeitgeist of the nineteenth century was the struggle between freedom and liberty on the one hand, and social order on the other. Sieyes (n.d.) points out the ways the Third Estate—the masses, the majority of people—started to perform the essential social, political, and economic services that had previously rested wholly within the power of the nobility and church. The empowerment of the Third Estate would not have been possible without the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution also changed social norms. Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is only one example of how the literature of the Victorian era reflected trends towards socialist ethics.…
The pioneering spirit of colonialism and of man's ability to make advances in stages of life primarily assigned to nature -- such as the aforementioned innovations in electricity and magnetism -- were all championed by the Enlightenment and carried over to the field of industry. Additionally, the Enlightenment helped provide some of the political context which helped to create environments in which the scientific and cultural achievements of the Industrial
It created a new class of poor and poverty, which ultimately could prey upon the successful economy created by the revolution. The Industrial Revolution led to the formation of many social improvements in society as it came to an end. Many people, appalled at the living conditions in the industrial cities' slums, began to lobby for more sanitary conditions. Gradually, water and sewer systems came to the cities, alleviating some
Industrial Revolution and Political Systems Justify your choice of the two most significant social consequences of the Industrial Revolution. The industrial revolution brought with it a mix of influences, some of which were good and yet others were negative to the society. The major consequences of industrialization that are of interest here are the change in the social structure of the society and the heightening of social unrest around Europe. As Gregory Clark
Technology and Social Change The Industrial Revolution completely changed the way that human beings live and work. Before the Industrial Revolution, society was dominated by agrarian economies. The Industrial Revolution created a new way of life in which an increasingly large percentage of the population either owned or worked in factories involved in mass production. Populations became increasingly concentrated in urban areas; fewer people worked on farms or owned farms. Instead
Industrial Revolution and Beyond It is difficult for anyone now alive to appreciate the radical changes that the Industrial Revolution brought to humanity. We imagine that we know what it was like before this shift in economics, in culture, in society: We think of farmers tilling fields and of their children piling hay into stacks for winter forage, or of trappers setting their snares for the soft-pelted animals of the
Why Britain?The Industrial Revolution as it has been described in Eurocentric historical analyses began in Britain during the late eighteenth century, with advancements in the textile industry. However, English imperialism and colonialism patterns are what provided the new market in raw materials that spawned the revolutionary technologies of the English Industrial Revolution (Marks, 96). Profiting off its colonies, England was able to amass the capital needed to invest in new