Project Proposal
The topic of this course project is “the impact of the Industrial Age and the rise of capitalism.” This topic was chosen because of the strong belief that the reflections about the past and continuous paralleling of the previous experiences with the modern ones are the way to a deeper understanding of today’s world foundation. From the Industrial times, society has changed its mindset in multiple spheres many times up until now, but the current project will focus on the influence this period had on the contemporary views about money, wealth, and business. In today’s world obsessed with material values reviewing the roots of this addiction seems like a topical task. The definition of the key features of the industrial epoch and the early capitalism would help discuss them in relation to modern times and values. The project goal is to analyze the distinctive characteristics of the chosen time period and the rise of the capitalist spirit and compare them to contemporary society to discover how they influenced the latter.
Literature Review
There has been some research in this particular area, however, with little comparison to modern times. Charles More (2014), for example, delves into the study of the Industrial age in Britain in all its complexity and multitude. He observes the industrialization process in the spheres of agriculture, manufacturing, society, government, banking, and many other areas of life. This comprehensive study is an excellent basis for the current research due to a variety of useful data that describe the life of people from different sides. It allows grasping the fundamental values that dominated the industrial age society. It also sheds some light on the birth of capitalist relations in the described period. The limitation of this study relating to the current project might be that the authors’ research is mostly centered on Britain.
Another useful addition to the basis of the current study is a book by Lloyd-Jones and Lewis (2014) called British Industrial Capitalism since the Industrial Revolution. It deals with theoretical, historical, and economic aspects of the industrial age capitalism after the 1820s. The authors offer a detailed review of the causes, consequences, and meaning of the changes that the industrial age added to the development of capitalism. This source will greatly benefit the current research and help build the section about capitalist relations in the industrial age. The limitation, however, is that it reviews the period after the industrial revolution without much focus on the previous years.
Methodology
The primary method of collecting data about the early capitalism and industrial age will be literature analysis. The choice of works will be based on the presence of information about the above-stated topics and data on the society’s lifestyle and attitudes towards business and money. The objective here would be to crystallize the key concepts that dominated the mind of people in that age. To analyze the impact the mentioned concepts have on contemporary society a survey may be conducted. It can gather opinions about the influence the discovered industrial age and capitalistic values have on the participant’s life.
Work Plan
The project is planned in three stages: data collection from literature sources on industrial age and early capitalism, conduction of surveys with modern people on the influence of industrial age and capitalistic values, and analysis of the collected data.
Results and Implications
The desired results will include an answer to the question of whether and how the industrial age capitalism influences modern people’s perception of money and business. This project could help better understand the meaning of the mentioned values and the extent of their influence on modern people’s lives. Perhaps, it would give an insight into the direction of the development of modern society.
References
Lloyd-Jones, R., & Lewis, M. (2014). British industrial capitalism since the industrial revolution. London, UK: Routledge.
More, C. (2014). The industrial age: Economy and society in Britain since 1750. London, UK: Routledge.