INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY: CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES AND SOCIAL CLASSES - HISTORY - 2025

The industrial society is a term used to describe the type of society that emerged after the Industrial Revolution and marked the transition from premodern to modern society. The concept is widely used in historiography and sociology, the latter also calling it a mass society.

The appearance of this type of human society was not homogeneous. The first countries in which it emerged were Great Britain, part of Western Europe and the United States. In other parts of the world the process was much slower, and even according to many specialists there are currently many countries that still live in a pre-industrial social structure.

The main change generated by this society was that productivity became the main thing. Agriculture lost importance and technical advances made the economic burden shift to factories.

For this reason new social classes were born, especially the industrial bourgeoisie, owner of the means of production; and the working class or proletariat.

Background and emergence of industrial society

Industrial society is closely related to the Industrial Revolution that made it possible. This covers a very long period, since it did not occur at the same time in all countries. Most historians place its beginning in the last decades of the 18th century.

The change that it entailed affected all social aspects: from the economy to the relations between the different social classes.

Background

The pre-industrial era had agriculture, livestock, crafts and other similar sectors as axes of society. This meant that a large part of the production was dedicated to self-consumption, with very little commercial presence.

The appearance of the bourgeoisie and the technical advances that began to appear, caused these characteristics to change little by little.

Changes in agriculture

Although industrial society has as its main differentiating element the empowerment of industry, the change in economic relations could not be understood without also mentioning the advances in agriculture.

New techniques began to be used in this sector, such as irrigation, fertilizers or machinery. This led to an increase in production, with the consequent appearance of surpluses that would allow trade.

In addition, part of the agricultural workers become unnecessary, having to migrate to the cities and work in the factories.

Economic liberalism

On the ideological-economic level, the appearance of liberalism is one of the most important elements that contributed to the birth of industrial society and, in turn, explain part of its characteristics.

The appearance of trade implied that the economic mentality changed. Production stopped being only for self-consumption and commerce or commercialism, and became an important aspect for the wealth of nations and individuals.

This process, which began timidly in the seventeenth century, was consolidated. He argued that the State should stop intervening in the market, letting it regulate itself.

The importance that began to be given to production is one of the elements that promoted the Industrial Revolution. Science and technology were put at the service of increasing this production, and factories - much more profitable - replaced the agricultural sector.

Technological advances

Without the advancement of technology, the Industrial Revolution or the society that is born from it would never have been reached. The growing population and the pursuit of wealth advocated by liberalism forced production to increase rapidly.

This was achieved by introducing new machinery. Both in the field and especially in the factories, more and more machines are used to increase productivity.

For example, in sectors such as textiles or metallurgy, these innovations totally changed the way of working.

Characteristics of industrial societies

The changes that occurred when moving to industrial society affected all its structures. Socio-economic, cultural, power and technological changes were generated.

Technological and energy

Although what usually attracts attention within the changes produced in industrial society are the technical advances applied to production, there was also a transformation in the energy aspect.

Fossil fuels, such as coal or oil, began to be used much more. Whether in the field or in the industry, they were essential to maintain the productive rhythm.

As the population increased, so did mechanization, until many workers were replaced by machines.

Cultural

Research in all areas led to a great increase in knowledge, although at first it was reserved for the small part of society that could be formed.

On the other hand, there was a population transfer from the countryside to the city, together with the increase in the birth rate. Medical advances resulted in a decline in mortality, with which demographics grew rapidly.

Socioeconomic

One of the most important characteristics of industrial society is the transformation of economic and social structures that it entailed.

The bourgeoisie, which had appeared with the artisan guilds and the accumulation of wealth, now became the owners of the factories. They became one of the most economically favored layers of the population, which also led them to occupy political power.

At the same time, the former peasants who migrated to the city ended up working in the factories, most of the time in pitiful conditions. This led them to organize, with which the first labor movements appeared.

Social classes

As previously noted, during the birth of industrial society a change occurred in social relations: new classes appeared, many times in opposition to each other. Economic and rights inequality was one of the characteristics of that period.

Industrial bourgeoisie

The bourgeoisie had been rising economically and socially since the High Middle Ages, when guilds appeared and cities began to be important. With industrial society it reached its highest point.

It was not a compact class, since there were several types of bourgeoisie. On the one hand, there were the bankers and the owners of the large factories who obviously had great economic and political power.

On the other, the experts speak of a middle bourgeoisie. This was made up of liberal professionals as well as merchants. The owners of the small shops and the non-worker workers formed the last layer, the petty bourgeoisie.

In a way, they replaced the old aristocracy as the leading element in industrial society.

Working class

The working class is another of those that appeared when the industrial society was created. Part of it was formed by the former peasants who, either due to the mechanization of the countryside or due to other circumstances, had to seek work in the factories. The same happened to artisans with small production.

From the moment that industry became the basis of the economy and society, it needed a mass of workers to work in it. The working class is defined as those who do not own the means of production and sell their labor power for a wage.

During the first stage, the conditions in which these workers lived were very bad. They had no labor rights and the salaries only came to allow a precarious survival. This caused the emergence of ideologies such as communism, prompted by the writings of Karl Marx.

This type of ideologies sought to change the ownership of the means of production. These would become of the State, ending the exploitation of man by man.

Types of industrial society

You can find three different types of industrial society depending on the time. The first is the one born immediately after the Industrial Revolution, in the second half of the 18th century. The textile industry, the transport revolution and steam power are its main characteristic points

The second type began in the late 19th century. Oil became the basis of the economy and electricity spread everywhere. The most important industries were metallurgical, automobile and chemical.

The last is the one that is currently being produced, the so-called post-industrial. Computer science and robotics, as well as new information technologies, are its main characteristics.

Concept of industrial society according to Herbert Marcuse

Herbert Marcuse was a German philosopher and sociologist born in 1898 who became a reference for the new left and the demonstrations of the French May 1968.

With a great influence from Marxism and the theories of Sigmund Freud, he critically approached the industrial society of his time, especially with regard to social relations. For him, this society was oppressive and produced the alienation of the working class.

In his thinking, the more advanced a civilization was, the more it forced humans to repress their natural instincts.

Conditioning of the human being

Likewise, he thought that the technique, far from freeing man, had enslaved him more. Marcuse considered that the pursuit of profit at all costs and the glorification of consumption ended up conditioning the human being to such an extent that he ends up living happily in his oppression.

For this reason, he only trusted the marginal elements of society, the underdeveloped peoples, the intellectuals and the students to change the situation. For him, the working class was too compromised and alienated by the system and only those outside it could rebel.

His solution was liberation from the technological system and use that technology to create a more equitable, healthy and humane society.

Examples of industrial companies

Japan

After the Second World War the Japanese undertook a total industrialization of their society. With few natural resources, they had to focus on the end product.

U.S

It is the clearest example of the transition from industrial to post-industrial society. It evolved from the primacy of agriculture to that of industry and now sells more knowledge and technology than traditional products.

China

The great weight of agriculture in China does not yet allow it to be considered fully industrial, although some characteristics are gaining ground. It is considered in full transition.

Latin America

Although it depends on the country, experts do not consider them to be industrial companies, perhaps with the exception of Argentina.

Refer

1. Sociologicus. Sociology and Industrial Society. Obtained from sociologicus.com
2. Finance for everyone. The Industrial Revolution (1760-1840). Obtained from Finanzasparatodos.es

3. Gómez Palacio, German David. The one-dimensional man in his critical dimension: From Herbert Marcuse to Rolan Gori. Recovered from ucc.edu.co
4. Dictionary of Sociology. Industrial Society. Retrieved from encyclopedia.com
5. Masuda, Yoneji. The Information Society as Post-industrial Society. Recovered from books.google.es
6. Adorno, Theodor. Late Capitalism or Industrial Society ?. Recovered from marxists.org
7. Koditschek, Theodore. Class Formation and Urban Industrial Society: Bradford, 1750-1850. Recovered from books.google.es
8. Marie-Louise Stig Sørensen, Peter N. Stearns. Revolution And The Growth Of Industrial Society, 1789–1914. Retrieved from britannica.com