The Romantic Age

Western History

One of the significant changes that the Industrial Revolution had over societies of the world is the emergence and development of a new social order that is ultimately determined by the organization of manufacturing or factory assembly. With the introduction of industrialism, work and production became easier and faster, making it more possible for businesses to engage in profit-making through mass production. The establishment of industrial businesses established the assembly line process of doing work, wherein division of labor is strictly observed and implemented in workplaces. As a result, workers became more specialized, albeit limited, in their knowledge and skills of their tasks/functions in factories/businesses.

Another significant change that the Industrial Revolution brought about in human society was the reinforcement of the social class, which was never manifested better than in the era of industrialism. The concept of working class gained more meaning than in the previous centuries of human history. As a result of this social reality, new ideologies also prevailed, which praised or criticized the capitalist economy, the ultimate end result of the process of industrialization that happened in the past centuries.

Thus, with these economic and social developments in the modern society, the Industrial Revolution became the catalyst that helped develop alternative views about industrialization and capitalism. Ideologies such as socialism, and more specifically, Marxism, became popular and were actually subsisted by Asian and Eastern European nations as an alternative social order that aims to abolish the social inequality inherent in the capitalist economic and political system.

Another important line of thought that became popular and prevailed in the 19th century was Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, positing that the process of natural selection determined the presence of species that prevailed until the present period. In his theory of evolution, Darwin argued that evolution occurred because of natural selection, wherein the determining principle is, "survival of the fittest." That is, in a given population and a given environment, certain individuals have certain characteristics that would make survive and thrive. As thriving happens, adaptation occurs, wherein the individual ensures that s/he is able to cope with the changes, state, and dynamics of his/her environment. This theory of evolution enforced the idea of competition and the concept of survival, concepts that became more relevant to societies as they became immersed in the industrialized economy and the eventual dominance of the capitalist economy, which is motivated also by the spirit of competition and 'survival of the fittest.'