Understanding what Industrial Capitalism is is the second phase to understand the development of the capitalist system. The impact of that moment was so great and decisive for the expansion of capitalism that some of its characteristics remain until today.
All this importance for the current economic world is due precisely to the amount of changes that existed in the period, both in the mode of production and in the way of making a profit. The way in which human beings relate to working on machines is also a topic of discussion.
With all these factors in mind, it is essential to carefully analyze and study Industrial Capitalism in order to understand the unfolding of the current economy. Therefore, check out in this article the most important definitions along with an appropriate deepening of the subject.
What is industrial capitalism?
Industrial Capitalism can be defined as the second phase of the capitalist system that succeeded mercantilism. The revolutions that occurred at the time enabled the use of machines to carry out work and these inventions began to be used in large numbers. From that context, the way of working changed a lot.
Due to the fact that industrial capitalism is the direct successor of commercial capitalism, it is worth saying that several concepts that were used in its predecessor were reused and adapted for industries, while others were created as we will see later.
How did industrial capitalism emerge?
History shows that industrial capitalism originated with the replacement of manual labor by machines in England in approximately 1750. From the mechanization of work through the development of machinery, the way to obtain profit was through the production of products in large quantities. industrialized.
The development of Industrial Capitalism coincides with the emergence of the first industrial revolution, since this is the moment in which several machines appeared and invested in several studies for the development of industry. Industrial Capitalism lasted from the 18th to the 19th century.
What are the characteristics of industrial capitalism?
The main characteristics of Industrial Capitalism sum up the ideas of industrial systems together with the objectives of the capitalist system. Therefore, obtaining and accumulating wealth continues to be the main focus, along with new features related to the working model with industries:
- Salaried work;
- Replacement of human labor by machines;
- New way of the Social Division of Labor;
- Transport development;
- rise of ideas like liberalismclass struggle and others.
The points mentioned in the generated list were responsible for generating changes in the way of obtaining profit and, consequently, general changes in the quality of the products created for commerce and the way of dealing with the various existing knowledge.
The development of techniques for food preservation, for example, demanded a lot of scientific research that needed to be encouraged and financed. As a result, the wide consumption of these products in the market. All these data promoted both advantages and disadvantages as we will see below.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of industrial capitalism?
The main advantage of industrial capitalism is that the amount of services and products that were developed was not small, which allows for a great variety and the need for new research for innovation.
However, the disadvantages are very noticeable and even glaring when we look at them. The first is the lack of concern with the distribution of wealth, which promotes social inequality. Not caring about the environment and focusing only on the individual is also a failure not only of industrial capitalism, but of capitalism as a whole.
Given all that we’ve talked about, we hope that you understand what Industrial Capitalism is and that you can speak about it with complete confidence from now on. Be sure to share our article to help spread the word and check out new information on this site whenever possible.
