Module 2: Origin of city in history
  Lecture 8: The Industrial Revolution and the Rise of the Gesellschaft Part I
 

 

  • It has been pointed out by historians that the Industrial Revolution was not a very demanding enterprise in terms of intellectual refinements. The technical inventions were so modest that any intelligent artisan could handle them (Hobsbawm 2002: 46). However, a new system of conducting business and labour was intimately linked to these new technologies.

  • In the wake of the Industrial Revolution sociologists had to explain:

    1. The changing condition of labour. The new labour that arose was industrial labour.

    2. Transformation of property and legal system, including patents on mechanical improvements.

    3. The new organization of work known as the ‘factory system’ entailed increased division of labour and specialization of function. It began in England with the mechanization of the textile sector and was geared towards mass production.