Industrial Production and Capitalism Drivers of Social Change

Industrial Production and smashingist economy Drivers of loving change in history Ho Xin Qian Louise In this essay, I will illustrate why industrial take and capitalism were major causes of genial change in history by stating three main arguments. Firstly, I put onwards the case that industrial occupation and capitalism admit changed the occasion and constitution of commercializes in history. In doing this, I trace how the commercialise has proceed the important system of social coordination via market instruments, encompassing even up the elements of industry bid land, tire out and money.In exemplification, I explain how industrial capitalism has brought closely the educate of mass production and mass markets, enabling the market system to pad its influence. Secondly, I will illustrate how industrial capitalism has changed the social dealings of production, as well as the social governance of serve, answering in degree scrape and socio- scotch stratificatio n in history. Lastly, I touch on the changes in norms and culture at bottom institutions due to industrial production and capitalism.For the purpose of this paper, I define industrial production as production brought about by mechanise technology and industrious industry in centralized locations. Capitalism is defined as a system of profit making prank do possible by the usage of money, decentralized circulation of capital and the market convert of commodities. I use the term industrial capitalism to herald the amalgamation of both forces. The Role and Nature of Markets in History It is my enmity that industrial production has changed the role and nature of markets in history, placing it in the shopping centre of society and economy.It is true that industrial capitalism presupposes the existence of a market system. However, the market system was never the dominant system of social escort until the development of isolated markets by mercantilist means, and subsequently the transnational interaction and proliferation of markets into a market economy, brought about by industrialization in the 18thC. It is due to this transcendence of boundaries and displacement of market activity that gives rise to the market as an reckon mechanism.According to Polyani, before the rise of markets, the society organizes itself via systems of redistri only ifion, house-holding and reciprocity, of which operates on non-economic motives like social prestige and kinship (Polyani 1944 46-58). After the rise of markets with long distance and local trade, markets deliver started to take on a more important role in providing necessities however, they did non at be for a majority of the population, who were still dependent upon reciprocal exchange and subsistence systems.Thereafter, mercantilism created isolated national markets which consolidated local economic activity and increased trade. However, it was not until the Industrial Revolution in the middle 18thC that the market system became the main driver of social change across different countries through the creation of mass markets. The industrial revolution has brought about red-hot forms of technology and power, transformed modes of production and created factories as centralized locations for mechanized production to take place.Mass production techniques like specialization, standardization, time-discipline, rational capital story and centralization allow for production cost to decrease with volume, thus generating a high amount of output, providing goods more cheaply than one could ask make outback(a) of the factory. As a result, people buy their essentials from these mass markets preferably than produce by themselves. Also, they produce solely for the market, deriving income to purchase some another(prenominal) goods in the circulation of commodities.Moreover, with industrial capitalism, the market mechanism has also come to allot factors of production much(prenominal) as land, labor and money, which according to Polyani were not actually commodities, but merely have exchange value because they become privately owned by use of legal contracts and sales (Polyani 1944 68-76). Since then, mass markets have come to synchronize most economic activities like usage, production, distribution and even finance in the most efficient fashion (Swedberg 2005238-240).These markets become distant reaching and displaced in light of industrial capitalism because of communicative and captivate technology, the mobility of money and tellings of free trade, which re-defined the notion of markets from a place to an accost net spend a penny of actors across national boundaries. Also, the nature of markets has changed from be state-controlled to being self-regulating. The market system becomes the center of economic and social life as it coordinates most economic activities not by state regulation but by economic instruments like the price mechanism, supply and demand aggr egates.Social traffic of Production and Organization of Work Industrial capitalism has, with the change in material means of production, brought about a change in the social relations of production and organization of graze. In capitalistic societies, instead of in a flash interacting with nature in production, human beings depend on each other by exchanging their assets in place of producing for subsistence. Hence, they inevitably enter into social relations of production amidst those who own the means of production (capitalist) and those who do not but atomic number 18 economically compelled to give away their labor power (worker) for wages.In the circulation of capital, point little value can be derived from the difference between capital invested and capital retrieved because capital (such as land, factory and machinery), only when combined with labor, transforms products to sell for higher(prenominal) exchange values, thereby generating surplus value and profit. This cir culation of capital is durable because capitalists taper to invest their capital to make even more profits mend workers can only increase their wages by work harder or by investing in their skills.Since then, the relationship between capitalists have become increasingly competitive due to the drive for profits while the worker-capitalist relation has replaced family (sexual division of labor) as the primary relation of production. According to Marx, as the self-possession of means of production is exclusive and alienable, the society becomes separated into two straightforward sectionalizationes the bourgeoisie (capitalist) and the proletarian (or worker), where between them is a relationship of domination and exploitation.Marx notice that the capitalists tend to exploit the workers by privately appropriating the surplus value produced by the workers, giving them much less than the use value of their time and endeavor invested in production (Marx 1848 23). Also, the exploita tion goes further by manifesting itself in the work conditions of factories, where workers were forced to work for long hours and churlren were also engaged as child labor. The exploitation and domination over workers exists because of the profit motive of decreasing costs and increasing revenue, as well as the fact that workers have less argaining power over their jobs than their employers. Capitalism has also re-defined the social organization of work by the formation of labor markets and complex division of labor. Prior to the intrusion of industrial capitalism, work was just defined as any grueling activity which attributes use value to commodities. However, with industrial capitalism, the formation of labor markets constituting workers, employers, jobs and networks is possible, and they function to allocate labor resources and allow capitalists to negotiate labor price and working conditions.Here, there is a clear demarcation of what is considered paid work and what lies ou tside of the labor market in the informal economy. Within the labor market, the exchange value of labor depends on the quantity and quality of labor, which denotes different labor processes and skills. The differentiation in wages is due to the complex division of labor brought about by industrial capitalism.Unlike the innocent division of labor, where society is categorised into different occupations as in craftmanship, the capitalistic industry has a drift to control and divide the mass production process into many simple tasks which all un ingenious workers atomic number 18 capable of accomplishing. Workers be subdivided into different capabilities and made to specialize in simple tasks to be able to perform pronto and productively. This organization of work greatly improves the efficiency of the system, bringing costs raven with more units of production.As seen in the Fordist model of mass production, workers as such are being de sure-handed and made interchangeable to th e extent that they can be open fire or hired according to production requirements (Womack 1990 19-46). Thus, the market value of such low labor is very low as opposed to professions (doctors) and skilled labor (technicians). The way work is being socially organized into skilled and unskilled labor has thus brought about socio-economic stratification in production relations. Marx has criticized this form of organization as being alienating, especially for the menial workers.As workers are being made interchangeable by the subdivided nature of production process, their labor is being looked upon only as a commodity, at their employers disposal. The worker loses control over his produce, the work process and his ability to creatively express himself. Moreover, their menial labor becomes cheapened in the process of unemployment and labor surplus. On the other hand, professionals are able to safeguard their interests by exclusive job administration channels, keeping their wages high du e to marketable specialize knowledge.As a result, socio-economic stratification has also become defined by consumption relations such as occupational prestige and status groups. Norms and subtlety Lastly, it is clear that industrial capitalism has brought about important changes in norms and culture. most(prenominal) explicitly, industrial capitalism has changed the culture of work in the society. Prior to this time, work was characterized by disparate tasks that one is required to do in the day, and is point to what is necessary to be attended to. There is little divide between work and life.In industrial-capitalistic societies, work is characterized by a series of jobs which need to be synchronized in terms of sequence and speed. Time-discipline is important for work in the capitalist economies because productivity and time are highly correlated (Thompson 1967, 6061). People are expected to use time allocated for work expeditiously and solely for work. As the stimulus for work has changed from subsistence to wage incentives, there is authorization of increasing wages by putting in more causa put into work.Thus, as competition for jobs and within jobs increase, people are pushed to work harder and longer in their jobs. Also, in the 18thC, industrial capitalism has led to the vogue of rapid urbanization due to rural urban migration and international migration in seek of factory jobs. This has led to a major restructuration of society within countries like England, where the working class poor tend to congregate draw close the city centre for employment and the more affluent middle class tend to decentralize away from these city centers, where living conditions are bad.The result is a case of socio-economic polarization within cities, where differences in standards of living are stark between gated communities and urban slums. In all, industrial capitalism tend to generate disparate levels of wealth and poverty amongst the working and capitalist classes . Lastly, industrial capitalism is likely to produce changes in habits and lifestyle which are orient towards the market. The culture of consumerism is prevalent in many industrial and post-industrial societies, brought about by both producers and consumers.Producers aim to increase the capital return from their investment by either catering to existing needs or by creating new needs and wants. With the use of marketing strategies and production technology, they are able to sell their products at a high profit margin. Consumers, on the other hand, are faced with the proliferation of goods and services available at competitive prices. With the wages they have earned, they are able to afford more goods at a rase price. In all, this paper contends that industrial production and capitalism are major drivers of social change in three ways.Firstly, industrial capitalism has changed the role and nature of markets in history, from an auxiliary mechanism to the main instrument of social co ordination. Secondly, industrial capitalism has revolutionized the social relations of production, from humanitys struggle with nature to dependency on each other. It has also changed the social organization of work, by re-defining what is work and by organizing work into skilled and non-skilled categories with varying consequences. Thirdly, industrial capitalism has influenced the norms and culture of society through industriousness, urbanization and consumerism. (1991 Words)