Characteristics of industrial society (briefly)

The classical characteristic of industrial society suggests that it is formed as a result of the development of machine production and the emergence of new forms of mass labor organization. Historically, this stage was consistent with the social situation in Western Europe in the 1800s and 1960s.

general characteristics

The generally recognized characteristic of an industrial society includes several fundamental features. What are they? First, the industrial society is based on a developed industry. There is a division of labor in it, which helps to increase productivity. An important feature is competition. Without it, the characteristic of an industrial society would be incomplete.

Capitalism leads to the fact that the entrepreneurial activity of bold and enterprising people is actively growing. At the same time, civil society is developing, as well as the state management system. It becomes more effective and more difficult. Industrial society can not be imagined without modern means of communication, urbanized cities and the high quality of life of the average citizen.

Technology development

Any characteristic of an industrial society, in short, includes a phenomenon such as an industrial revolution. It was she who allowed Britain to be the first in human history to stop being an agrarian country. When the economy begins to rely not on cultivating crops, but on a new industry, the first sprouts of an industrial society appear.

At the same time, there is a significant redistribution of labor resources. Labor leaves agriculture and goes to the city to factories. In the agricultural sector remains up to 15% of the state. The growth of the urban population also contributes to the revival of trade.

In production, the main factor is entrepreneurial activity. In the presence of this phenomenon is characteristic of industrial society. Briefly, this relationship was first described by the Austrian and American economist Joseph Schumpeter. On this path society at a certain point is experiencing a scientific and technological revolution. After this, the post-industrial period begins, which already corresponds to the present.

Free society

Along with the onset of industrialization, society becomes socially mobile. This allows people to destroy the framework that exists under the traditional order characteristic of the Middle Ages and the agrarian economy. In the state, the boundaries between estates are blurred. In them, caste disappears. In other words, people can become rich and become successful due to their diligence and skills, without looking back on their own origins.

The characteristic of an industrial society is a significant economic growth that occurs due to the increase in the number of highly qualified specialists. In the first place, there are technicians and scientists who determine the future of the country. This order is also called technocracy or the power of technology. The work of traders, advertising specialists and other people occupying a special position in the social structure is becoming more and more significant.

The folding of national states

Scientists have determined that the main characteristics of industrial society are that the industrial and technological structure becomes dominant in all areas of life from culture to economy. Together with urbanization and changes in social stratification, the emergence of national states, built around a common language, is taking place. Also, the unique culture of the ethnos plays a big role in this process.

In the medieval agrarian society, the national factor was not so significant. In the Catholic kingdoms of the fourteenth century, belonging to a feudal lord was much more important. Even the armies existed on the principle of hiring. And only in the XIX century the principle of national recruitment into state armed forces was finally formed.

Demography

The demographic situation is changing. What is the characteristic of industrial society? The signs of change are reduced to a decrease in the birth rate in one average family. People devote more time to their own education, standards are changing with respect to the availability of offspring. All this affects the number of children in one classical "cell of society".

But at the same time, the mortality rate also falls. This is due to the development of medicine. The services of doctors and medicines are becoming more accessible to a wide range of people. Life expectancy increases. The population dies more in old age than in youth (for example, from diseases or wars).

Consumer society

Enrichment of people in the industrial era led to the emergence of a consumer society. The main motivation for the work of its members is the desire to buy and buy as much as possible. A new system of values is emerging, which is built around the importance of material wealth.

The term was introduced by the German sociologist Erich Fromm. In this context, he stressed the importance of reducing the length of the working day, increasing the proportion of free time, as well as blurring the boundaries between classes. This is the characteristic of an industrial society. The table shows the main features of this period of human development.

Mass culture

The classic characteristic of industrial society in the spheres of life is that consumption increases in each of them. Production begins to focus on standards, which defines the so-called mass culture. This phenomenon is one of the brightest signs of an industrial society.

What is it? Mass culture formulates the basic psychological attitudes of the consumer society in the industrial age. Art becomes accessible to all. It willingly or unwittingly promotes certain norms of behavior. They can be called a fashion or lifestyle. In the west, the flowering of mass culture was accompanied by its commercialization and the creation of show business.

The theory of John Galbraith

The industrial society was thoroughly investigated by many scientists of the 20th century. One of the prominent economists in this series is John Galbraith. He substantiated several fundamental laws that help formulate the characteristics of an industrial society. At least 7 provisions of his theory became fundamental for the new economic schools and trends of our time.

Galbraith believed that the development of industrial society led not only to the establishment of capitalism, but also to the creation of monopolies. Large corporations in the economic conditions of the free market acquire wealth and absorb competitors. They control production, trade, capital, and progress in science and technology.

Strengthening the economic role of the state

An important characteristic of industrial society in the early 20th century, according to the theory of John Galbraith, is that in a country with such a system of interrelations, the state intensifies its intervention in the economy. Before that, in the agrarian era of the Middle Ages, the authorities simply did not have the resources to radically influence the market. In an industrial society, the situation is completely reversed.

The economist in his own way noted the development of technology in a new era. By this term he meant the application of systematized new knowledge in production. The requirements of the scientific and technological revolution lead to the fact that corporations and the state triumph in the economy. This is due to the fact that they are the owners of unique scientific production developments.

At the same time, Galbraith believed that, under industrial capitalism, the capitalists themselves lost their former influence. Now the availability of money did not mean power and importance. Instead of owners, scientific and technical specialists come to the forefront, which can offer new modern inventions and production methods. This is the characteristic of an industrial society. According to the plan of Galbraith, the former working class is being eroded under these conditions. The aggravated relations between the proletarians and the capitalists are coming to naught due to technical progress and the equalization of the incomes of graduates.