Transformation of Society: Economy, Class, and Labor

Posted on Mar 30, 2025 in Geology

The Industrial Revolution

General Concepts

  1. The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the mid-18th century.
  2. It consisted of a set of large-scale changes that transformed an agricultural and trade economy into an industrialized one.
  3. The causes were:
    • Increased agricultural production through fertilizers, land utilization, and machinery.
    • Improved livestock quality, providing food for the population and raw materials for industry.
    • Rapid population growth, decreased mortality, and improvements in hygiene and medicine. This increase meant higher demand for products and cheap labor for industries.
    • Improved roads and means of transport, increasing trade with colonies, which favored industry.

Phase 1

  1. The textile industry shifted from home-based production to factories, with significant technical innovations and the division of labor, mechanizing textile spinning.
  2. The ironworks industry also benefited by replacing charcoal with mineral coal (“coke”) and employing blast furnaces.
  3. The major invention of this phase was the steam engine, which was used in all sectors and later in boats and railroads.

Phase 2

  1. Phase 2 is known as the era of Great Capitalism.
  2. Banks began to give loans to industries, and the first anonymous societies were created.
  3. Business concentration began, taking two forms: vertical and horizontal, which gave rise to monopolies.
  4. The market was internationalized, numerous technical advances occurred, and new materials such as aluminum and nickel were used.
  5. New energy sources emerged to replace coal: electricity and petroleum.
  6. New industries appeared, such as the chemical, electrical, and food industries.

Economic Liberalism

Economic liberalism replaced the previous economic system, physiocracy. Its principles were:

  • Work is the only source of wealth.
  • Personal interest promotes the general interest.
  • Economic activity is regulated by the law of supply and demand.
  • Governments should not invest in the economy; it should be left to private initiative.
  • Exchange of products should be free, without limitations or protectionism.

Class Society

The old estate-based social division disappeared, giving way to a class society. Its principles were:

  • Mobility between classes and the disappearance of privileges.
  • The bourgeoisie’s rise to dominance in political, social, and economic spheres.
  • The appearance of a new social class: the proletariat (working class).

The Labor Movement

The rise of unions, economic development, and the absence of state intervention in the economy left workers at the mercy of entrepreneurs. These conditions led to:

  • Very long workdays.
  • A total lack of health and safety at work.
  • The use of child and adult labor.
  • Low wages.
  • Layoffs without unemployment benefits or compensation.
  • No social security or holidays.
  • Prohibition of worker associations.

The first reactions were protests. These began with the destruction of machines (“Luddism”). Later, the first workers’ associations appeared, which were persecuted. Unions finally took their protests to the English Parliament through letters known as the Chartist Movement. Shortly after, Utopian socialism appeared but failed in its attempts at implementation. The emergence of anti-capitalist ideologies resulted in the rise of worker unions.