Technology and Social Change
The Industrial Revolution completely changed the way that human beings live and work. Before the Industrial Revolution, society was dominated by agrarian economies. The Industrial Revolution created a new way of life in which an increasingly large percentage of the population either owned or worked in factories involved in mass production. Populations became increasingly concentrated in urban areas; fewer people worked on farms or owned farms. Instead of making their own goods and services, people now bought the majority of the items they needed in stores.
The current Knowledge Revolution is technologically driven, just like the Industrial Revolution. It is fueled by the Internet and radically expanded accessibility of information to everyone who has an Internet connection. In some ways, like the Industrial Revolution, it is extremely democratic -- just as many people made their fortune through capitalism, the knowledge economy of World Wide Web has fueled revolutions by creating connections where they did not exist before. Yet it has also created profound divides between the haves and the have-nots of the world.
The new revolution has fundamentally changed the ways in which we relate to others and to objects. The Industrial Revolution created the consumer and the phenomenon of the 'shopper' rather than the crafter. Suddenly, cheap goods were accessible to the masses. Just like the Industrial Revolution changed the sun-up-to-sundown model of agricultural labor, so has the Knowledge Revolution, fueled by the Internet. "Long established workplace conventions -- from defined office hours to physical office space -- are being tossed out the window" (Kaufman 2013). The Knowledge Revolution shifted the way in which we view value -- we are more willing to value their ability to connect us to one another (like cellphones) versus material toys
And just as the Industrial Revolution...
For the overall country however, it meant an incremental desire for high productivity levels and an openness to new techniques (Wallace, 1989). The colonies and the British fleet Aside the status and movements within agriculture, another major part was played by the colonies. Great Britain had numerous colonies across the globe, meaning that it enjoyed not only labor force, but also financial and material contributions. England had fought countless battles and
Other employment prospects in fields such as petty trading, retailing, transportation and domestic service also developed simultaneously in urban areas. In the nineteenth century, when the industrial working class became much larger and more important in the social structure they begin to assert themselves socially, politically and economically, evolving into the social order we see today. Growth of Cities According to Jeffery G. Williamson (1990) Britain grew at an unusually rapid
The pioneering spirit of colonialism and of man's ability to make advances in stages of life primarily assigned to nature -- such as the aforementioned innovations in electricity and magnetism -- were all championed by the Enlightenment and carried over to the field of industry. Additionally, the Enlightenment helped provide some of the political context which helped to create environments in which the scientific and cultural achievements of the Industrial
Industrial Revolution in America Countless historical events and cultural impacts have influenced the future of the American culture and society since the period of the Industrial Revolution. Drastic changes were brought to men, transforming their ways of life into convenience and improvement through the advance discoveries of the geniuses of the past and the revolution of diverse industries. Without the era of the industrial revolution, our lifestyles today, in terms of
Social change refers to the significant alteration of social structure and cultural patterns through time. Social structure is the routine interaction among persons or groups and cultural patterns refer to the shared way of thinking, knowledge, beliefs, etc. When a social change occurs, it affects both social structure and culture. The first kind is the change in personnel and it denotes the process of new people, with personal histories and experiences,
, 1997). Ideas and Ideologies Throughout the years, sociology concepts have been developed, interpreted and put in rational frame works with concepts that advocate for social ideology. Human perspective thinking is guided by the systems of ideas that provide relevant societal theories with commitment and implications that promote social change (Johnston and Oliver, pg 1). Ideologies are of fundamental importance, especially when scrutinizing social and cultural formations that lead to social change.
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now