the industrial revolution and consumer society

• starts around 1750 in Britain and it spreads

• starts in the textiles industry

• cotton → thread → cloth

important factors that aid Britain’s industrialization:

• new inventions, James watt, George Stephenson

• natural resources, coal, iron, and water, that power machines that were needed to fuel growth

• transportation infrastructure

  • canals

  • roads

  • railways

• agriculture created a money surplus

  • enclosure benefitted it

  • Enclosure in the 1750s allowed for more efficient and profitable land use, leading to increased productivity and higher yields. This resulted in a surplus of agricultural goods that could be sold for profit, contributing to the economy's growth.

• incentives

  • The incentives that promoted industrialization in Britain during the 1750s included the availability of capital, natural resources such as coal and iron, a stable political environment, a large labour force, and technological advancements such as the steam engine.

• protective property rights

  • In the 1750s in Britain, protective property rights included laws such as the Statute of Anne, which granted copyright protection to authors, and the Bubble Act, which restricted the formation of joint-stock companies.

• stable constitutional monarchy

  • The stable monarchy in Britain promoted industrialization by providing a favourable environment for entrepreneurs and investors through policies like the Navigation Acts and Enclosure Acts, which encouraged long-term investment in new technologies and infrastructure.

  • The Enclosure Acts were a series of laws passed in England between 1750 and 1860 that allowed wealthy landowners to take over and enclose common lands, forcing small farmers to either pay rent for their land or move to the cities to find work

1. ideology that supported the individual initiative (to some degree, individual freedom and inquiry)

   • encourages individuals to take risks and innovate, leading to new inventions and technological advancements

   • focus on individual rights and freedoms allows entrepreneurs to pursue their intrests and invest in new industries, leading to economic growth and development

2. developing pod of landless labour

   • growth of urban areas and expansion of workforce in the industrial centers

3. well developed banking system

   • pools money into one spot, easier accessing loans, innovation/capital market

   • easier time accessing money increases innovation leading to new economic growth

4. colonies around the world

   • provided Britain with raw materials (cotton, wool, timber) which grew the textile industry

   • colonies were a market for the manufactured goods, allowing for increasing exports and profits

   • profits from trade were reinvested into industries

5. extensive merchant marine

   • transportation of raw materials and finished goods → increased trade and economic growth

   • goods transported both domestically and internationally

6. well developed navy to guard the routes

   • safe transportation of goods and raw materials to facilitate trade

7. convenient position for world trade

   • import of raw materials from colonies and export of finished goods to other countries

   • access to resources and markets

   • control of seas and network of ports and canals helped transportation goods

8. rich natural deposits of coal and iron

   • fuel source for steam engines

   • iron used for machines, bridges, and railways

   • increased production and transportation of goods

9. few internal trade barriers

   • free flow of goods and resources leading to increased competition and innovation

10. they needed grain surplus to feed a proletarian workplace

    • sustained lower wages for workers

    • growth of population

11. urbanization

    • growth of urban areas and expansion of the workforce provided new labour pools

    • transportation infrastructure was developed

    • concentration of workers allowed for the development of new technologies and innovations

boroughs and constituencies

• each borough had one representative in the house of commons

• only men with significant property could vote

• about 1 in 40 in 1689

• about 1 in 13 in 1832

• women over 30 with property could vote in 1918

industrialization → urbanization → horrific visible poverty

class difference emerging

the industrial revolution leads to the change in:

• economics

• politics

• society

the new political ideas formed:

• romanticism

  • against reason, rationality and order, and instead a celebration of emotion, the individual, and the imaginative

  • artistic and intellectual movement

  • rejected materialism

  • impacted the arts and cultural movements

  • on the right of the spectrum

• liberalism

  • belief in individual rights and freedoms, especially in the economic realm

  • importance of property rights and freed trade

  • rejection of mercantilism and economic protectionism

  • skepticism of absolute monarchy and belief in representative government and rule of law

  • checks and balances on political power

  • reaction against authoritarianism and absolutism

  • on the left of the spectrum

• conservatism

  • belief in tradition and continuity

  • concern that changed from the social and economic effects of the enlightenment and industrial revolution were destabilizing forces and undermining tradition

  • wanted to preserve hierarchies and social structure, especially religious ones as well as the monarchy

  • skeptical of individual rights and freedoms due to the threat of them destabilizing society

  • importance of social order, and slow gradual change rather than radical fast-paced change

  • reaction against rapid social and economic changed brought by the enlightenment and industrial revolution

  • on the right of the spectrum

• socialism

  • rise of labour movements and worker protests

  • growing dissatisfaction with working conditions and low wages

  • utopian communities and societies that tried to make more balanced forms of social organization

  • critique of capitalism and advocation of equal distribution of wealth and resources

  • growing concern of economic inequality

  • on the left of the spectrum

• communism

  • critiqued excess of capitalism

  • seeking to overthrow power structures through violent revolution compared to socialists favouring gradual social change and working within political systems to enact reforms

  • believed state was an institution tied to capitalism compared to socialists using the state to promote social justice and form an equal society

  • on the left of the spectrum

• nationalism

  • emphasized the importance of shared national identity for political unity

  • undermined religion as the common factor for unity

  • emerged in response to the political and social changes (growth of industrialization, and urbanization, spread of literacy, mass communication, and downfall of social and political hierarchies

  • nation rather than church or monarchy should be basis for political loyalty

  • independence from colonial or imperial rule

  • left side of the spectrum

• social darwinism

  • certain races and social classes are inherently superior to others

  • emerged as a response to the new forms of competition and inequality

  • believed that the market economy was a reflection of natural law

  • used to justify social and economic inequality, as well as imperialism and racial superiority

  • on the left side of the spectrum

• inherited monarchy

• europeans feudal societies

• not all feudal societies look the same

• faith ties it together

• faith provides meaning to your existence

• god was at the top

  → PR(1517) → SR (1550) → E (1650) → IR (1750)

limited (in the feudal triangle):

• ideological diversity

• job diversity

• change through time (slow gradual change)

• opportunity

• mobility (particularly in agricultural societies)

• association

• expression

when the above was questioned it began the protestant reformation

exploration of the natural world leads to social sciences (enlightenment)

industrial revolution

industrialization flips the limited stuff on its head

onslaught of ideas

liberalism, romanticism, conservatism, nationalism, (by 1850, those ideas are out there)

significantly more liberal society

feudal societies are relatively poor compared to the post-industrial society which is relatively rich

political spectrum (1850s)

left:

• liberalism

  • explaining phenomena using logic and reason

  • product of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment

• nationalism

  • before putting their country and patriotism first it was religion that was binding the community together

  • usurping religion for nationality was a novel idea

• social Darwinism

  • idk lol

• socialism

  • radical political and social change

• communism

  • radical ideology to overthrow capitalistic systems and establish a classless society

  • challenge power structures and promote social equality

right:

• conservatism

  • preserve traditional values, institutions and power structures

  • monarchy, church, aristocracy

  • resistant to change and social upheaval

  • skeptical of radical movements

• romanticism

  • values of individualism, as well as connection to the past could be associated with conservative worldviews

  • resist changes brought about by industrialization and modernization

  • some writers were critical on the enlightenment, and disliked the emphasis on reason, progress and scientific discovery

  • skeptical of revolutionary and radical movements on the left, due to the probability of it destabilizing society, which is another conservative belief

industrial revolution began around 1750n

• critical factores

  • labour expensive

  • abundant coal resources

  (why England became the first industrial society)

• textiles were the first to industrialize

• spinning jenny → one person for the work of five

• thread production increased

• needed someone to weave thread to cloth

• power loom → work of one person did the work of four people

• income inequality massively increases

• certain tech → people w/ certain abilities → fabulously wealthy

• how much money do we really need?

• boiling points of resentment, overthrowing?

• conditions in textile factories are horrific

  • manchester

  • liverpool

  • glasgow

1801: top 1% enjoyed 25% of overall income

1848: top 1% enjoyed 35% of all income

utopian socialist:

• robert owen socialism (1817)

• appalled by textile mill conditions

• new lanark 1799

• experiment in socialism and moral reform

• schools established

• child labour regulated

• worker input encouraged

• 8hr working days established

• product was more expensive b/c social welfare costs money

• though others would follow his model

• they didn’t because they lost money due to the ethical wages making textiles more expensive

state legislation against the worst of capitalism

• safety

• child labour

• time off

needed the state to police factory owners

why marxism failed to materialize in Britain

• workers themselves need to seize the means of production

1. proletariats preferred collective bargaining and improved working conditions and wages over revolution

2. marxist message was too radical for the time. greater freedom of expression, wider expansion of franchise, free trade, and gradual income tax was preferred

3. income tax introduced in 1842, greater interest in public service and regulation. as long as people believed their lives would improve, they rejected the revolutionary option

4. capitalists understood that their workers were also their consumers, rising wages could also be very good for business

5. worst aspects of factory system were regulated away. women and other received the vote, their concerns were addressed by the government they elected

6. without wealth produced by the industrial revolution, regulatory and welfare state would not exist