Industrial Revolution - Phases 1 & 2

Industrial Revolution - Phase 1

• A massive economic, technological, and social change led to the UK becoming a manufacturing economy.
• Fernand Braudel explained Britain's leading role in this shift, occurring in two main stages: cotton industry and metal production using iron.
• Key to the revolution was the application of steam power to machinery.
• Steam engines, improved by James Watt, replaced human and animal power.
• Large-scale production reduced costs, impacting food production.

Industrial Revolution - Phase 2

• Marked by the rise of railways.
• UK surpassed France and Russia in iron production.
• The process transformed societies, shifting from agriculture and handicrafts to manufacturing and extractive industries.
• An industrial society emerged, emphasizing mass production, affordable prices, and technological modernization.

Impact of Industrialization

• Led to social changes including urbanization, unemployment, bureaucracy, class conflict, secularization, mass education, and the growth of liberal democracy.

The Birth of Sociology

• Sociology emerged from the French and Industrial Revolutions,
• Aiming to understand and predict their consequences.
• Comte created the term sociology and sought universal social laws.
• Marx analyzed alienation in capitalism, impacting workers' self-fulfillment.
• Durkheim discussed the division of labor, considering anomie as a result of rapid social change.

Industrialism

• An economic system based on mechanized industry, featuring factory systems and the automation of production.
• Includes specialization, bureaucratic structure, and urbanization, along with cultural rationalization.
• Taylorism, an approach to industrial organization, aimed at optimizing production through scientific management principles.
• Ford introduced mass production via standardized products for mass consumption.
• The division of labor in society divides technical and social labor with segmented and unequal labor markets and power structures.

Durkheim's Division of Labour

• Emphasized the role of morality in societal transformation.
• Identified three major themes: importance of sociology, the rise of the individual, and moral authority in society.
• Argued society has an objective reality beyond individual perceptions.
• The individual builds personality by internalizing social facts and moral discipline.
• Social regulation creates moral discipline and less social regulation leads to higher rates of suicide.

Urbanism

• The study of unique social characteristics in cities, including impersonality.
• Early cities were often located in fertile areas with agricultural surpluses.
• Industrialization and increased communication, generated growth of cities.
• Urban sociology focuses on social relationships within cities.
• Cities developed as a product of social evolution and the specialization of functions.
• Issues include the adaptation of humans to environments, the dominance of urbanism in modern society and how cities impact social bonds and the development of individualism.

Capitalism

• A mode of production based on market exchange and profit maximization.
• Capital accumulation is a key process of capitalist expansion.
• Characteristics include dynamic, innovative technological advancements and efficient production.
• Marx critiqued the system, identifying conflict between social classes as a driving force for change.

Postmodernity

• A cultural and ideological configuration distinguishing itself from modern era.
• Features globalization, post-industrialism, post-capitalist, post-structural, post-enlightenment, and post-history characteristics.
• Modernity is marked by the rational scientific thought and use of technology to solve human problems.
• Postmodernity emerged from Enlightenment ideals but now encompasses technology, culture, and religious norms.

Liberal Democracy

• A system of rule by the people with varying interpretations of political ideology.
• Classical democracies emphasize popular self-government.
• Protective democracies prioritize individual rights, limiting government interference.
• Liberal democracies seek wider popular participation and equitable class power distribution.
• Debates center around citizen participation, decision-making methods, and the relationship between collective and individual concerns.

Fukuyama's Thesis

• History has reached a definitive conclusion, with liberal democracy as the final, and superior, form.
• Argued for the universality of liberal democracy stemming from global historical trends in increasing freedom and equality.

Postmodernity criticisms of Enlightenment

• Critical theorists argue that Enlightenment ideals and rationalism are no longer considered as the foundation of society.
• Enlightenment is no longer considered as a foundation for societal functioning
• People don't believe that reason, science, and progress universally apply in all situations.
• Enlightenment ideals are often seen as destructive, rather than beneficial, while people's perspectives vary significantly in their perceptions of modernity.

Organisational Behaviour - Influencing Factors

• Legal frameworks, technology, and market forces influence the workplace context.
• Maltese laws are influenced by EU directives.
• Employability is essential for entering, staying, and progressing in the job market.
• Two types of employment include profession (high-profile work requiring extensive training) and self-employment.
• Work orientation (Instrumental, Bureaucratic, and Solidaristic) are discussed.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs is important for motivators of work.

Culture

• A collective programming of the mind, distinguishing groups and shaping individual behaviors and attitudes.
• Includes artifacts, style, myths, technologies, norms, values, and attitudes surrounding organizations.
• Hofstede's dimensions explain national cultural differences.
• Lewins 3 step model and Kotter's 8-step model highlight approaches to manage organizational change.

Organisational Development

• Focuses on improving organizational effectiveness via planning and implementation of programs.
• 3E's (economic, efficiency, and effectiveness) are core actions of management.
• Behavioral scientists' concepts like motivational theories and power dynamics inform organizational theories.
• Activities are divided into supervision and coordination.
• Adaptive responsive structural change, including innovation, are strategies for dealing with organisational change and adapting to new circumstances.

Conflict in Organisations

• Functional conflict can be beneficial, prompting motivation, high-quality work, and personal satisfaction.
• Dysfunctional conflict can create stress, high worker turnover, sabotage, and reduced job satisfaction.
• Pluralist perspective highlights power differences between groups, and the need to compromise.

Socialisation and Stratification

• Socialisation is the process by which individuals learn cultural norms to integrate into a community.
• Agents of socialisation include family and schools.
• Stratification relates to structured inequalities between groups.
• Four systems of stratification are slavery, caste, estates, and class divisions.
• Class division, according to Marx, divides society into capitalists and the proletariat.

Religion and Society

• Religion influences societies.
• Social conflict theory views religion as an agent of social stratification.
• Functionalism theory views religion as providing social cohesion, control, and purpose.
• Symbolic interactionist theory views religion through social engagement.

Globalization

• Increasing multidirectional flows of things, people, and information across the globe.
• Globalisation increased awareness of different cultures, which impact social values, fashion, music, and TV.

Inequality and Poverty

• Economic inequality is measured by the Gini coefficient.
• Factors that contribute to poverty include children, women, elderly, and minorities.
• Poverty encompasses and relates to different definitions of basic needs (water, food, shelter) between countries.
• Inequality in access to resources, such as material possessions, education, and healthcare, contribute to varying standards of living.

Migration

• Legal and illegal migration, both internal and external, are significant social phenomena.
• Refugees and asylum seekers face unique challenges, particularly those relating to persecution.
• Cultural pluralism and assimilation play roles in integrating cultures.
• Factors like wars, political persecution, and economic situations are some of the reasons people leave their countries.

The Davos Report 2024

• Explores concerns about inequality, corporate power, and the exploitation of workers.
• Highlights monopolies and issues with wages and tax avoidance.
• Identifies challenges regarding the impact upon globalized markets.

Explore the transformative phases of the Industrial Revolution, detailing the significant economic, technological, and social changes that reshaped the UK. From the rise of the cotton industry and steam power to the expansion of railways and mass production, understand how these changes impacted society and the economy. This quiz delves into the critical developments that marked this pivotal era in history.