Features of industrial society in the economic sphere. When did industrial society emerge?

Industrial society

Industrial society- a society formed in the process and as a result of industrialization, the development of machine production, the emergence of forms of labor organization adequate to it, and the application of the achievements of technical and technological progress. It is characterized by mass, continuous production, mechanization and automation of labor, the development of the market for goods and services, the humanization of economic relations, the increasing role of management, and the formation of civil society. .

Industrial society is a society based on industry with flexible dynamic structures, which is characterized by: division of labor and growth of its productivity, high level of competition, accelerated development of entrepreneurial resources and human capital, development of civil society and management systems at all levels, widespread development of the media communications, a high level of urbanization and an increase in the quality of life.

Industrial society arises from the Industrial Revolution. A redistribution of the labor force is taking place: employment in agriculture falls from 70-80% to 10-15%, the share of employment in industry increases to 80-85%, and the urban population is also growing.

Entrepreneurial activity becomes the dominant factor of production. Joseph Schumpeter was the first to introduce entrepreneurial resource as a leading factor in development. As a result of the scientific and technological revolution, industrial society is being transformed into a post-industrial society.

The essence and concept of development of industrial society

The essence of industrial society is reflected by the emergence and development of entrepreneurial resources as a component of human capital, human capital itself, as well as competition - the main factors in the formation and development of the industrial economy and society, the drivers of the industrial revolution and the generation of innovations.

The concept of the development of an industrial society is to form and develop a class of entrepreneurs, education, especially special education, science, culture, medicine, to improve the quality of life of the population and the efficiency of the elite, and to form a civil society.

Industrial society and economy began to take shape in the first half of the 19th century. Revolutionary changes took place in the economy and society during this period of time:

Accumulation of creative human capital, knowledge and innovation (in industry);

Industrialization and mechanization of production, the transition from manual labor to machine labor;

Competitive relations and competitive markets were formed, democracy and civil society were formed;

The level and quality of life of the population increased; culture, education, science developed and the basis was gradually prepared for the next round of accelerated economic growth, development of industry and technology;

There was an accelerated development of human capital due to the priority growth of investments in education, including vocational education, science, and innovation.

The main driver of the development of the industrial economy has been and remains competition.

Features of an industrial society

The emergence of a creative class - entrepreneurs (capitalists) and wage workers.
Growth and development of special and general education, science, culture, quality of life, infrastructure.
Transition to machine production.
Population movement to cities - urbanization.
Uneven economic growth and development - stable growth alternates with recessions and crises.
Socio-historical progress.
Unlimited exploitation of natural resources to the detriment of the environment.
The basis of the economy is competitive markets and private property. The right of ownership of the means of production is considered as natural and inalienable.
The labor mobility of the population is high, and the possibilities of social movement are practically unlimited.
The most important values in an industrial society are entrepreneurship, hard work, honesty and integrity, education, health, ability and readiness for innovation.

An industrial society is characterized by a sharp increase in industrial and agricultural production; accelerated development of science and technology, means of communication, invention of newspapers, radio and television; expanding opportunities for outreach and educational activities; population growth and increasing life expectancy; a significant increase in the level and quality of life compared to previous eras; increasing population mobility; division of labor not only within individual countries, but also on an international scale; centralized state; smoothing of horizontal differentiation of the population (dividing it into castes, estates, classes) and growth of vertical differentiation (dividing society into nations, “worlds,” regions).

Waves of development and technological structures of the industrial economy

The transition from industrial to post-industrial society

Notes

Literature

Zaparii V.V., Nefedov S.A. History of science and technology. Ekaterinburg, 2003.
Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883-1954). Theory of economic development
Korchagin Yu. A. Human capital as an intensive socio-economic factor in the development of personality, economy, society and statehood, Moscow, HSE, 2011
Timoshina T.M. Economic history of foreign countries. – M.: “Justitsinform”, 2006.
Glazyev S.Yu. Economic theory of technical development. – M.: Nauka, 1990. – 232 p.
Glazyev S.Yu. Theory of long-term technical and economic development. – M.: Vladar, 1993. – 310 p.
Korchagin Yu.A. Human capital development cycles as drivers of innovation waves. - Voronezh: TsIRE.
Grinin L. E. Productive forces and the historical process. 3rd ed. M.: KomKniga, 2006.
Korotaev A. V., Malkov A. S., Khalturina D. A. Laws of history. Mathematical modeling of the development of the World System. Demography, economics, culture. 2nd ed. - M.: URSS, 2007.

Links

World History Review
Historical periods
Economic organization
History of the regions

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See what “Industrial society” is in other dictionaries:

The modern stage, or era, in the development of mankind. Previous eras: primitive society, ancient agrarian society, medieval agrarian-industrial society. In the most developed Western European countries, the transition to I.o. has begun… … Philosophical Encyclopedia

- (industrial society) A society with a wide division of labor and reliance on large-scale machine production. Industrial society is seen as a general designation for the capitalist and socialist formations of the recent past. Saint Simon... ... Political science. Dictionary.

A type of economically developed society in which the predominant sector of the national economy is industry. Industrial society is characterized by the development of the division of labor, mass production of goods, mechanization and... ... Financial Dictionary

Modern encyclopedia

- (industrial society), designation of the stage of development of society, replacing the traditional, agrarian (tribal, feudal) society. The term belongs to A. Saint Simon; The concept of industrial society became widespread in the 50s and 60s... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Industrial society- (industrial society), designation of the stage of development of society, replacing the traditional, agrarian (tribal, feudal) society. The term belongs to A. Saint Simon; The concept of industrial society became widespread in the 50s and 60s... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Burzh. sociology, and economics, theory of societies. development, directed against the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of social progress in the course of successive societies. economical formations. Formulated in two versions of French. philosopher R.... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

One of the main categories in which modern philosophers, sociologists, political scientists and economists analyze the trends and features of modern, so-called. “developed” societies, in contrast to “traditional”, “agrarian” (tribal, feudal, etc.)… … The latest philosophical dictionary

industrial society- The stage of development of society and social relations that emerged after the industrial revolution, when, along with raw materials industries, manufacturing industries (the secondary sector of the economy) began to develop as the basis of the economy... Dictionary of Geography

Books

Almanac of German history. To the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lev Kopelev. Industrial society in Germany and its development. The Germans and the “Department”, Ishchenko V.V. , "Almanac" continues the traditions of the "Yearbook of German History", published by the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The first issue presents articles by Russian and German historians... Category: Scientific publications, theories, monographs, articles, lectures Series: Publisher: URSS,
Historical sociology in 3 parts. Part 3. Industrial and post-industrial society. Textbook for bachelor's and master's degrees,

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" Industrial society:characteristic features and features"

INconducting

There are several variants of the typology of societies. The most modern is the theory that was put forward by the American sociologist Daniel Bell. He divides the development of society into three stages. The first stage is a pre-industrial, agricultural, conservative society, closed to outside influences, based on natural production; the second stage, actually the one that will be discussed further, is an industrial society, which is based on industrial production, developed market relations, democracy and openness; and finally, in the second half of the twentieth century, the third stage begins - post-industrial society, which is characterized by the use of the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution; sometimes it is called the information society, because the main thing is no longer the production of a certain material product, but the production and processing of information.

This work raises the topic of identifying important features and characteristics of the stages of human development - the stage of industrial society.

1. Definition and distinctive features

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY - a society in which industrialization has occurred, creating new technological foundations for its development. The term belongs to Henri Saint-Simon and was used by Comte to contrast the new, emerging economic and social structure with the old, pre-industrial one. Modern theories of industrial society represent a form of technological determinism.

Distinctive features of industrial society:

· Establishment of the industrial technological structure as dominant in all social spheres (from economic to cultural).

· Changes in the proportions of employment by industry: a significant reduction in the share of people employed in agriculture (up to 3-5%) and an increase in the share of people employed in industry (up to 50-60%) and the service sector (up to 40-45%).

· Intensive urbanization.

· The emergence of a nation-state organized around a common language and culture.

· Educational revolution. The transition to universal literacy and the formation of national education systems.

· Political revolution leading to the establishment of political rights and freedoms (primarily the right to vote).

· Growth in the level of consumption ("consumption revolution", the formation of a "welfare state").

· Changing the structure of working and free time (formation of a “consumer society”).

· Changes in the demographic type of development (low birth rate, mortality rate, increase in life expectancy, aging of the population, i.e. increase in the proportion of older age groups).

Industrialization is the basis of the broader social process of modernization. The "industrial society" model has often been used as a catch-all to describe modern society, embracing capitalism and socialism as its two variants. Theories of convergence (rapprochement, convergence) emphasized the signs of rapprochement between capitalist and socialist societies, which ultimately become neither classically capitalist nor traditionally socialist.

2. D. Bell's theory of industrial society

Daniel Bell is an American philosopher and sociologist, professor at Harvard University. Main works: “The New American Law” (1955), “The End of Ideology. The Exhaustion of Political Ideas in the 50s" (1960), "Marxist Socialism in the United States" (second edition, 1967), "The Coming Post-Industrial Society. Experience of social forecasting" (1973), "Cultural contradictions of capitalism" (1976), "Social sciences after the Second World War" (1982), etc.

In the late 1930s and 1940s he took part in the radical left movement, and then, in the early 1950s, he evolved towards liberal reformism, and finally, in the 1960s, he switched to the position of neoconservatism. In 1955, B., together with I. Kristol and D. Moynihan, founded the magazine “The Public Interest”. B. is one of the most prominent representatives of the scientistic-technocratic direction of social philosophy. In 1960, Bell was one of the main authors (simultaneously with Aron) of the concept of deideologization, which became the source of the theory of industrial society. According to Bell, the central variables that determine the trends, dynamics and direction of development of industrial society are labor and capital, and the contradictions between them constitute the main source of its development. The main tool for optimizing such a society, as well as managing the organizations and enterprises existing in it, is machine technology.

Technologies as instrumental methods of rational action are the main determinant of social development. The development of technology itself occurs in spurts. Moreover, one can distinguish entire eras in its autonomous self-development, within which various social transformations occur. Although technological revolutions are ideal in their theoretical foundations, their symbols and at the same time carriers are very real material and material forms, for example, for a post-industrial society this “thing” is a computer. Bell introduces the so-called “axial principle” into his philosophical and sociological concept as a theoretical and methodological basis. Its essence lies in the fact that various types of society develop in the context of a certain core line, which determines the social, economic, cultural and political appearance of their understanding. Depending on the choice of the main axis, according to Bell, the historical process can, for example, be considered as a change in forms of ownership and corresponding social formations. And then its interpretation in terms of “feudalism”, “capitalism”, “socialism” is legitimate.

If, instead of this dimension, we use a different “axial principle”, where the “main pivot line” is the status and historical role of human knowledge, then social evolution looks completely different: pre-industrial - industrial - post-industrial society. Unlike industrial society, in the post-industrial era it is knowledge that, according to Bell, is the main source of wealth and power, therefore the decisive means of control is no longer machine, but intellectual technologies. In the coming century, the development of the telecommunications system will be of decisive importance. To understand the essence and nature of the “telecommunications revolution”, which plays a decisive role in the organization and processing of information and knowledge, three aspects are especially important:

· transition from industrial to “service society”

· the paramount importance of codified theoretical knowledge for the implementation of technological innovations

· transformation of new intellectual technology into a key tool for system analysis and decision-making theory.

The interaction of these three aspects determines the enormous importance of theoretical knowledge as the “axial principle” of post-industrial society. At the same time, in the context of the problem of the “guiding and determining” force of social changes in this society, the significance of the fact that it is becoming more open and indeterministic (conditioned by something) increases, and its “social density” also increases. Recognizing that knowledge and information are becoming strategic resources and agents of transformation in post-industrial society, Bell, at the same time, seeks to avoid reproaches of adherence to technological determinism. Therefore, he formulates the concept of the multidimensionality of the social organism. In this concept, each of the spheres - economics, social life, culture, politics - develops according to special laws inherent only to it.

Therefore, these spheres are capable of not only interacting, but also opposing each other. In particular, the “information society”, due to growing cultural contradictions, may face the danger of an even deeper gap between cultural and social life. There is a growing contradiction between the “revolution of growing aspirations,” which is very undesirable and dangerous for the development of society, and the “revolution of growing expectations,” which is being supplanted by it but has been active for the previous decades.

The most significant reasons for these unwanted revolutions, Bell believes, lie both in the exorbitant level of demands made by their champions and in the fact that they are universal in nature. This disrupts the established order in society, undermines social stability, and gives rise to numerous intergroup conflicts. The consequence of this situation is political instability, complemented by economic instability. The best means for eradicating these instabilities are the market system of economic organization and, based on the philosophy of neoconservatism, the principles of order and sustainability, which are actively introduced into the life of modern society.

In line with social evolutionism, based on the opposition of traditional and modern societies, the theory of industrial society was formed in the 50-60s (R. Aron, W. Rostow). The theory of industrial society describes the progressive development of society as a transition from a backward agrarian (traditional) society, dominated by subsistence farming and class hierarchy, to an advanced industrial society.

An industrial society is characterized by:

1) a developed and complex system of division of labor in society as a whole, with specialization in specific areas of production and management;

2) mass production of goods for a wide market;

3) mechanization and automation of production and management;

4) scientific and technological revolution.

From the point of view of this theory, the main characteristics of large industry determine the form of people's behavior not only in the sphere of organization and management of production, but in all other spheres of social life.

In the 60s, the theory of industrial society was developed in the theory of post-industrial society. D. Bella. From his point of view, society in its development goes through the following stages:

Pre-industrial society;

Industrial society;

Post-industrial society.

Table. The main characteristics of societies identified by D. Bell:

Criteria	Pre-industrial	Industrial	Post-industrial
Main field of activity	Agriculture	Industry	Services sector
Most influential social group	Landowners, priests	Industrialists,	Scientists, managers and consultants
Specific forms of social organization	Church, army	Corporations, banks	Universities
Social stratification	Sos., caste, slave.		Prof. groups
The social status of an individual is determined		With money	Knowledge

Theories of industrial and post-industrial society are within the framework of social evolutionism, since they imply the passage of certain stages by society based on technical and technological innovations.

The term "post-industrial society" correlates with "pre-industrial" and "industrial". Pre-industrial society is largely extractive, with an economy based on agriculture, coal, energy, gas, fishing, and forestry. An industrial society is primarily a manufacturing society, in which energy and machine technology are used to produce goods. Post-industrial society is an organism in which telecommunications and computers play a major role in the production and exchange of information and knowledge.

If industrial society is based on machine production, then post-industrial society is characterized by intellectual production.

The products of an industrial society are produced in distinct, clearly identified units, exchanged and sold, consumed and worn out like a piece of cloth or a car.

Knowledge, even if it is sold, remains with its producer. It is a “collective commodity” from the point of view that, once produced, it is by its nature the property of all.

Post-industrial society does not completely replace industrial society, just as industrial society does not discard the agricultural sectors of the economy. New features are superimposed on the old ones, erasing some of them, but overall complicating the structure of society.

It would be useful to highlight some of the new dimensions of post-industrial society.

· Centralization of theoretical knowledge.

· Creation of new intellectual technology.

· Formation of a class of knowledge producers.

· Transition from the production of goods to the production of services.

· Changing the nature of work.

In pre-industrial society, life was a game between man and nature, in which people interacted with the natural environment - land, water, forests, working in small groups and depending on it. In an industrial society, work is a game between man and the built environment, where people are overshadowed by machines that produce goods. In a post-industrial society, work becomes, first of all, a game between a person and a computer (between an official and a petitioner, a doctor and a patient, a teacher and a student).

· The role of women.

· Science is at a new stage of its development.

· "Sitos" as political divisions.

There are 4 types of functional sitos - scientific, technological, administrative and cultural, as well as 5 institutional sitos - economic enterprises, government offices, universities and research centers, social complexes (hospitals, service centers, etc.) and the military sphere. In my opinion, the main struggle of interests will develop between the Sithos.

1. Meritocracy. A post-industrial society, being primarily a technical society, provides better positions in it on the basis of inheritance or property (although these factors may contribute to certain educational and cultural advantages, and based on knowledge and qualifications).

2. The end of shortages.

3. Economics of information.

industrial society technological

Conclusion

Dividing the history of human society into three stages - agricultural, industrial and post-industrial, D. Bell sought to outline the contours of a post-industrial society, largely based on the characteristics of the industrial stage. Like other theorists of industrialism (primarily T. Veblen), he interprets industrial society as organized around the production of things and machines for the production of things. The concept of industrial society, he emphasizes, covers the past and present of various countries that may belong to opposing political systems, including such antagonists as the USA and the USSR. It is the industrial character of society, according to Bell, that determines its social structure, including the system of professions and social strata. The social structure is “analytically separated” from the political and cultural dimensions of society. According to D. Bell, changes in the social structure occurring in the middle of the 20th century indicate that industrial society is evolving to post-industrial society, which should become the defining social form of the 21st century, primarily in the USA, Japan, the Soviet Union and Western Europe.

Scientific and technological achievements play a special role in shaping global trends. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the universal typology of social organization in most cases is built taking into account the stage of development of advanced scientific and technological achievements in a particular country. This approach is presented in the theory of post-industrial society, authored by the American sociologist D. Bell.

Within the framework of this theory, three types of social organization are distinguished, which at the same time are three successive stages of world development: pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial.

The industrial type of social organization is characteristic of a number of European countries and states of the former USSR. It is based on the development of industry and the production of consumer goods.

The Industrial Revolution liberates the individual: personal dependence is replaced by personal independence. It manifests itself in the fact that the appropriation of the means of production and means of subsistence in a market economy is not mediated by a person’s belonging to any group. Each commodity producer operates at his own peril and risk and determines for himself what, how and how much to produce, to whom, when and under what conditions to sell his products. However, this formal personal independence has as its basis a comprehensive material dependence on other commodity producers (and, above all, dependence in the production and consumption of vital goods).

The materialization of relations between commodity producers acts as the embryo of the alienation of labor, which characterizes various aspects of the dominance of past labor over living things, the product of labor over activity, and things over man, which has developed in a market economy.

The prerequisites for overcoming it develop in the process of transition from an industrial society to a post-industrial one.

List of used literature

1. D. Bell. “The coming post-industrial society. Experience of social forecasting" Translation from English. edited by V.L. Inozemtseva. M., "Academia", 1999.

2. D. Bell. "Social framework of the information society." Abbreviation translation by Yu.V. Nikulichev / New technocratic wave in the West. Ed. P.S. Gurevich. M., 1998.

3. Berezhnoy N.M. Social philosophy (in 2 parts). M., GASBU, 1997.

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What is an industrial society?

In addition to production characteristics, this society is distinguished by a high standard of living, the development of civil rights and freedoms, the emergence of service activities, accessible information and humane economic relations. Previous traditional socio-economic models were characterized by a relatively low average standard of living of the population.

Industrial society is considered modern; both technical and social components are developing very quickly in it, affecting the improvement of the quality of life in general.

Main differences

The main difference between a traditional agrarian society and a modern one is the growth of industry, the need for modernized, accelerated and efficient production and the division of labor.

The main reasons for the division of labor and mass production can be considered both economic - the financial benefits of mechanization, and social - population growth and increased demand for goods.

Industrial society is characterized not only by the growth of industrial production, but also by the systematization and flow of agricultural activities. Moreover, in any country and in any society, the process of industrial reconstruction is accompanied by the development of science, technology, media and civic responsibility.

Changing the structure of society

Today, many developing countries are characterized by a particularly accelerated process of transition from a traditional society to an industrial one. The process of globalization and free information space play a significant role in changing socio-economic structures. New technologies and scientific advances make it possible to improve production processes, which makes a number of industries especially efficient.

Processes of globalization and international cooperation and regulation are also influencing changes in social charters. Industrial society is characterized by a completely different worldview, when the expansion of rights and freedoms is perceived not as a concession, but as something for granted. In combination, such changes allow the state to become part of the world market both from an economic and socio-political point of view.

Main features and characteristics of industrial society

The main characteristics can be divided into three groups: production, economic and social.

The main production features and characteristics of an industrial society are as follows:

mechanization of production;
labor reorganization;
division of labor;
productivity increase.

Among the economic characteristics it is necessary to highlight:

growing influence of private production;
emergence of a market for competitive goods;
expansion of sales markets.

The main economic feature of an industrial society is uneven economic development. Crisis, inflation, decline in production - all these are frequent phenomena in the economy of an industrial state. The Industrial Revolution does not guarantee stability.

The main feature of industrial society in terms of its social development is a change in values and worldview, which is influenced by:

development and accessibility of education;
improving quality of life;
popularization of culture and art;
urbanization;
expansion of human rights and freedoms.

It is worth noting that industrial society is also characterized by reckless exploitation of natural resources, including irreplaceable ones, and almost complete disregard for the environment.

Historical background

In addition to economic benefits and population growth, the industrial development of society was due to a number of other reasons. In traditional states, most people were able to provide themselves with a means of subsistence, and that’s all. Only a few could afford comfort, education and pleasure. Agrarian society was forced to move to agrarian-industrial society. This transition allowed for increased production. However, the agrarian-industrial society was characterized by the inhumane attitude of owners towards workers and a low level of mechanization of production.

Pre-industrial socio-economic models were based on one form or another of the slave system, which indicated the absence of universal freedoms and a low average standard of living of the population.

Industrial Revolution

The transition to an industrial society began during the Industrial Revolution. It was this period, the 18th-19th centuries, that was responsible for the transition from manual labor to mechanized labor. The beginning and middle of the 19th century became the apogee of industrialization in a number of leading world powers.

During the industrial revolution, the main features of the modern state took shape, such as production growth, urbanization, economic growth and the capitalist model of social development.

The industrial revolution is usually associated with the growth of machine production and intensive technological development, but it was during this period that the main socio-political changes took place that influenced the formation of a new society.

Industrialization

There are three main sectors in both the global and national economies:

Primary - resource extraction and agriculture.
Secondary - processing resources and creating food products.
Tertiary - service sector.

Traditional social structures were based on the superiority of the primary sector. Subsequently, during the transition period, the secondary sector began to catch up with the primary sector, and the service sector began to grow. Industrialization consists of expanding the secondary sector of the economy.

This process took place in world history in two stages: the technical revolution, which included the creation of mechanized factories and the abandonment of manufacturing, and the modernization of devices - the invention of the conveyor, electrical appliances and engines.

Urbanization

In the modern understanding, urbanization is the increase in the population of large cities due to migration from rural areas. However, the transition to an industrial society was characterized by a broader interpretation of the concept.

Cities became not only places of work and migration, but also cultural and economic centers. It was the cities that became the boundary of the true division of labor - territorial.

The future of industrial society

Today in developed countries there is a transition from a modern industrial society to a post-industrial one. There is a change in the values and criteria of human capital.

The engine of post-industrial society and its economy should be the knowledge industry. Therefore, scientific discoveries and technological developments of the new generation play an important role in many countries. Professionals with a high level of education, good learning ability, and creative thinking are considered valuable working capital. The dominant sector of the traditional economy will be the tertiary sector, that is, the service sector.

Everyone has heard about such concepts as the industrial age and industrialization, but few can succinctly characterize them. Well, let's try to figure it out.

Industrial society: what is it like?

This era is characterized by a type of social relations based on the division of labor, and industry is able to provide people with a comfortable life. It is an intermediate option between traditional and information (post-industrial) society.

Despite the fact that historians call the modern way of life post-industrial, it has many “industrial” features. After all, we still travel by metro, burn coal in boiler rooms, and the cable telephone sometimes reminds us of the industrial Soviet past with its shrill ringing.

Prerequisites for industrial society

The entry of European society onto the path of progress is a gradual process characterized by a change from feudal relations to capitalist ones.

(the era of industrialization) is considered to be the period from the 16th to the 19th (early 20th) centuries. Over these three centuries, European society has come a long way in development, covering all spheres of human life:

Economic.
Political.
Social.
Technological.
Spiritual.

The process of gradual innovation is called modernization.

The transition to an industrial society is characterized by:

Division of labor. This is what caused an increase in production, as well as the formation of two economic classes: the proletariat (wage workers) and the bourgeoisie (capitalists). The result of the division of labor was the formation of a new economic system - capitalism.
Colonialism - the domination of developed European countries over the economically backward states of the East. It is clear that the colonialist exploits the human and natural resources of the dependent country.
Advances in science and engineering inventions have changed people's lives.

Industrial society is characterized by the following features

Urbanization.
The transition to capitalism.
The emergence of a consumer society.
Education of the global market.
Reducing the influence of the church on a person’s life.
Formation of mass culture.
The enormous influence of science on people's lives.
The emergence of two new classes - the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Decrease in the number of peasants.
Industrialization.
Changing the worldview of people (human individuality is the highest value).

Industrial revolution in European countries

As stated earlier, an industrial society is characterized by industrialization. Let us list one by one the countries of the Old World in which this process took place:

1. England is the first European country to take the path of progress. Already in the 16th century, the flying shuttle and the steam engine were invented. The 17th century can generally be called the century of invention: the first steam locomotive made its way from Manchester to Liverpool. In 1837, scientists Cook and Winston created the electromagnetic telegraph.

2. France “lost” a little in the industrialization of England due to strong feudal orders. However, the past revolution of 1789-1794 changed the situation: machines appeared, and weaving began to actively develop. The 18th century is notable for the development of the textile and ceramic industries. The final stage of French industrialization is the emergence of mechanical engineering. To summarize, we can say that France became the second country to choose the capitalist path of development.

3. Germany lagged significantly behind the pace of modernization of its predecessors. The German industrial type of society is characterized by the appearance of the steam engine in the mid-19th century. As a result, the pace of industrial development in Germany gained impressive momentum, and the country became the leader in production in Europe.

What do traditional and industrial societies have in common?

These two fundamentally different ways of life have identical features. Traditional and industrial society are characterized by:

the presence of an economic and political sphere;
apparatus of power;
- observed in any type of social relations, since all people are different, regardless of the era.

Economics of an industrial society

Compared to the agrarian relations of the Middle Ages, the economy of modern times was more productive.

How is the economy of an industrial society characterized and what distinguishes it?

Mass production.
Development of the banking sector..
Origin of credit.
The emergence of a global market.
Cyclical crises (for example, overproduction).
The class struggle of the proletariat with the bourgeoisie.

A prerequisite for major economic changes was the division of labor, which contributed to increased productivity.

The English economist Adam Smith described this perfectly. He gave an example of the production of pins, in which one can clearly understand what the “division of labor” is.

An experienced craftsman produces only 20 pins per day. If you divide the production process into simple operations, each of which will be performed by a separate worker, labor productivity will increase many times. As a result, it turns out that a team of 10 people produces about 48 thousand pins!

Social structure

Industrial society is characterized by the following features that changed people's daily lives:

population explosion;
increasing life expectancy;
baby boom (40-50s of the twentieth century);
environmental deterioration (with the development of industry, harmful emissions increase);
the emergence of a partner family instead of a traditional one - consisting of parents and children;
complicated social structure;
social inequality between people.

Mass culture

What characterizes an industrial society, besides capitalism and industrialization? it is an integral part of it.

Keeping pace with Recording technologies, cinema, radio and other media appeared - they united the tastes and preferences of most people.

Mass culture is simple and understandable to all segments of the population; its goal is to evoke a certain emotional response from a person. It is designed to satisfy fleeting requests, as well as to entertain people.

Here are examples of popular culture:

Women's novels.
Glossy magazines.
Comics.
Series.
Detectives and science fiction.

The genres of literature indicated in the last paragraph are traditionally classified as mass culture. But some social scientists do not share this point of view. For example, “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” is a series of detective stories written in artistic language and having many meanings. But Alexandra Marinina’s books can easily be classified as mass culture - they are easy to read and have a clear plot.

What kind of society do we live in?

Western sociologists have introduced such a concept as information (post-industrial) society. Its values are knowledge, the development of information technology, the safety of people and care for our big home - the wonderful green Earth.

Indeed, knowledge plays an increasingly important role in our lives, and information technologies have affected almost every person.

But, despite this, industry continues to operate, cars burn gasoline, and potatoes are still being collected in the fall 100 years ago. The industrial type of society, as mentioned earlier, is characterized precisely by industry. And harvesting potatoes is an agriculture that arose in time immemorial.

Therefore, the name of today's era “post-industrial” is a beautiful abstraction. It would be more logical to call our society industrial with features of an information society.

Industrial society is characterized by many useful discoveries and human visits to space.

The amount of knowledge accumulated today is enormous; another thing is that it can either benefit humanity or cause harm. We hope that a person will have enough intelligence to apply the accumulated potential of knowledge in the right direction.