Karl Marx's Views on how Industrialization Affected Society

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Karl Marx's Views on how Industrialization Affected Society

The Industrial Revolution was the result of many interrelated changes that transformed society from agricultural communities into industrial ones. The most immediate changes on society because of this revolution were on the products that were produced, where, and how. Goods that were traditionally made in homes or small workshops began to be manufactured in large industrial factories. As a result, productivity and efficiency increased dramatically, thereby causing a radical shift in the long-established economies that existed at the time. The Industrial Revolution led to the growth of cities as people moved from rural areas to the city in order to find work. Marx believed that the changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution overturned not only the traditional economies, but also society in general.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, both societal and economic conditions were largely determined by agriculture. Growth was slow, and people relied on traditional means to get by. The majority of the society were farmers and raised other animals. In the eighteenth century, however, the population exploded at an unprecedented pace. There are four primary reasons that may be cited for this growth: a decline in the death rate, an increase in the birth rate, the virtual elimination of plagues, and an increase in the availability of food [1]. This population growth created a surplus of labor. The need for workers in agriculture decreased due to the technological advances in techniques and tools. The surplus of people, as well as other would-be farmers, had to find jobs elsewhere. This is one important factor in the shift of the popul...

... middle of paper ...

...Sherman, Dennis, and Joyce Salisbury. The West in the World. Vol. 2: From 1600.

(New York: McGraw Hill Publishers, 2001), 572.

4. Joseph A. Montagna, “The Industrial Revolution,” Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.

2001, http://www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html (22

October 2001).

5. The Acts 29 Times. “The Industrial Revolution,” April 1999,

http://www.acts29online.org/industrial%20revolution.htm, 22 October 2001.

6. James Fielden, The Curse of the Factory System (New York, A. M. Kelley, 1969), 34-

35.

7. Fielden, 34-35.

8. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000, Industrial Revolution, Microsoft Corporation,

Redmond, Washington.

9. Chris Rohmann, A World of Ideas (New York: Random House Publishing, 1999), 249.

10. Rohmann, 249

11. Marx, 19.

12. Marx, 16.

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