From Artisanship to Industrial Capitalism
1. Artisanship vs. Industry
Artisanship
Production is driven by traditional energy sources (wind, animal power, etc.). The artisan owns the means of production and manages the entire process from beginning to end. Products are distinct and aimed at a local market; the producer knows the consumer. There is no advertising and no application of advanced scientific techniques.
Industry
Production takes place in factories, powered by machines (e.g., steam engines). There is a division between the proletariat (workers) and the means of production, owned by the bourgeoisie. Each worker performs only one phase of the standardized production process. Production is intended for national and international markets; the producer does not know the consumer. Advertising is employed, and modern scientific advancements and technologies are progressively applied.
2. Causes of the Industrial Revolution
Demographic Revolution
A demographic growth process caused by a sharp drop in mortality, from approximately 38% in 1730 to 27% in 1800. Great Britain, the pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, experienced significant growth. Causes: Increased food production, progress in hygiene, and advancements in medicine. Implications: Decreased mortality, sustained birth rate, and increased life expectancy.
Agricultural Revolution
Increased demand, higher agricultural prices, private property, the Norfolk system, mechanization, and new crops. The demand for agricultural products rose due to the increasing population.
3. Main Industries
Textile Industry
The first major industry was cotton textiles. Cotton was chosen due to the absence of guild regulations that prohibited the introduction of machinery and technical innovations. Key innovations: Flying shuttle, spinning jenny, and power loom.
Steel Industry
Traditional steel production: Small quantities of iron were produced in furnaces using charcoal.
Industrial steel production: Large quantities of iron were produced using coal and coke.
Railroads and Steamboats
Railroads: Key innovations included a new system of iron rails and flanged wheels to prevent derailment, and the steam locomotive. The construction of the railway network significantly stimulated the steel industry.
Steamboats: Steam engines were built for maritime transport, replacing traditional sailing ships.
4. Industrial Capitalism
Definition: An economic system based on economic freedoms, private property rights, a price mechanism determined by supply and demand, and a social division between the bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (workers). Adam Smith, a key theorist, proposed that the economy is driven by self-interest and the pursuit of maximum profit. Supply and demand are balanced by price mechanisms. The state’s role is limited to maintaining order and enforcing rules.
5. Second Industrial Revolution
In the late nineteenth century, a new phase of industrialization began, with economic leadership shared between Great Britain and emerging powers like Germany, the United States, and Japan.
7. International Workers’ Movements
Proletarian internationalism advocated for the unity of the working class worldwide to fight against capitalism.
- First International (1864): Founded by Marx and Engels, it included Marxists, anarchists, and trade unionists. It aimed to coordinate socialist parties’ programs and actions but dissolved in 1876 due to ideological differences.
- Second International (1889): An exclusively socialist organization focused on coordinating socialist parties.
- Third International (1918): Founded by Lenin after the Russian Revolution, it comprised only communist parties advocating for a one-party Soviet system.
8. Key Concepts
- Fallow: Land left unplanted to recover and store organic matter and moisture.
- Norfolk System: An agricultural system that avoided leaving land fallow and allowed for continuous arable crops to feed livestock.
- Capitalism: An economic system based on economic freedom, private property, supply and demand, and a social division between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
- Bourgeoisie: Owners of the means of production.
- Proletariat: Workers who earn wages.
- Adam Smith: A Scottish economist and philosopher, a key figure in classical economics.
- Luddites: A labor movement in England that opposed industrialization and often attacked machinery.
- Union: A democratic organization of workers defending and promoting their social, economic, and professional interests.
- Cartel: An association of companies that collude to fix production and prices.
- Holding Company: A financial group that invests capital.
- Taylorism: A method of industrial organization focused on increasing productivity by dividing tasks and reducing worker control over production times.
- Karl Marx: A German philosopher, economist, and socialist thinker.
- Mikhail Bakunin: A Russian anarchist philosopher.
- Factory: A place where each worker performs a small part of the production chain.