The industrial revolution is closely related to each sphere of society, ambiguously affecting them. The essence of these changes lies in the automation of processes and the reorganization of production routes to more efficient methods. In most spheres, the changes are positive, but the effects are ambiguous in terms of labor and workers. Analyzing precisely how the industrial revolution has affected society and the working class is necessary to conclude how beneficial or detrimental the innovation has been.
Before analyzing the significance of the Industrial Revolution for workers, we must analyze the preconditions that explain the emergence of the Industrialization:
- The accumulation of capital in the hands of entrepreneurs, merchants, and bankers;
- The growth of wage labor, provided that the number of places hardly grew;
- The existence of a market in the colonies;
- The development of trade and the rapid growth of cities (Glen, 9).
As for the familiar preindustrial promise of labor, called manual labor, the introduction of machines wholly displaced it. The number of jobs began to fall, since where, for example, 300-400 people were required, the post-industrial revolution began to require 100 (John Morrison, 756).
From such a statistic, it follows that many workers were left without work, which led to their marginalization. The discontent and rebellion of the working class reached their peak between 1811 and 1813 with the emergence of the Luddist movement (Glen, 34). The fact is that workers were outraged by the deprivation of work, and there were more and more unemployed. This led to the fact that representatives of this movement wrecked and destroyed machines and automatic production so that manual labor became relevant again. This did not lead to their victory because industrialization had been successfully stopped, but it illustrates the marginalization of the working class.
Another adverse effect was the difficult economic situation in which workers found themselves. Many professionals and specialists could only do one type of work that they had mastered in life (Glen, 11). Because of the loss of relevance of their work, they were left without work, with serious financial problems (Glen, 33). The number of homeless people, criminals, and sick people began to grow, shattering the order and integrity of society. Some entrepreneurs decided to return some workers to provide machines to reduce the total number of beggars. Thus, this situation shows that industrialization affected workers more negatively than positively.
However, such an unequivocal conclusion cannot be drawn. The fact is that new professions began to appear instead of the old ones, which also required specialists and artisans. The introduction of machines meant the actualization of, for example, engineers, so many workers had to retrain to work successfully again. This was not an option for everyone because, as mentioned earlier, there were fewer jobs (Glen, 37).
Generally speaking, the quality of work expected of workers increased because it was in the interest of manufacturers to prefer skilled professionals to ordinary workers. This, in turn, influenced the quality of manufactured products, the increase in the industry’s volume, and the emergence of related professions. In addition, the social sphere of public life began to develop actively, as some of the unemployed began to master other sciences and disciplines, where there had been a shortage of workers before (Glen, 2019). This is one example of how the Industrial Revolution affected all areas of life at the same time.
In conclusion, we can conclude that the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the world of work are ambiguous. On the one hand, there is indeed the marginalization of the working class, the mass dismissal, and the destruction of people’s lives. On the other hand, the general increase in production and the emergence of new professions has qualitatively improved the life of society, and the laid-off workers have had alternative opportunities. Therefore, it is impossible to answer unequivocally in which direction the sphere of labor has changed.
References
Glen, Robert. (2019). Urban Workers in the Early Industrial Revolution. Taylor & Francis.
John Morrison, Testimony of a Machinist, 1883. Report of the Committee of the Senate upon the Relations between Labor and Capital, 48th Congress (1885), pp. 755–759. Web.