The Effects of Industrialization - Essay Example

Industrialization has brought the superpowers the modernization they enjoy today. There has been enough literature that highlights the factors that aid industrial modernization and the general development of enterprises. Some of these factors include but are not limited to the favourable political and legal environment for commerce and industry, abundance of natural resources, sufficient supply of cheap skilled labour among other factors. These factors affect and determine the rates of industrialization for a particular country. This explains the reasons as to why there are varying levels and rates of industrialization in different countries all over the world. For instance, states like the US and Germany have made considerable strides in industrialization and these are comparable to other countries such as the Soviet Union, Japan, China and the UK. This paper seeks to highlight industrialization in its entirety paying a closer look at the early and late industrialization. Further, the paper tries to compare the level of industrialization of countries such as the US, Germany, China, Japan, Soviet Union and the UK with special emphasis on the factors that could have brought these countries that far. The present industrial status is also looked at in terms of commerce, education and the general social welfare in these countries. Introduction Industrialization may be construed to refer to the process of both social and economic change that sees a society move from a pre-industrial to a fully industrial society. Actually, sometimes modernization is considered as a result of industrialization except that apart from industrialization modernization may be as a result of a synergy between economic development and social change. When these two, economic development and social change, are closely related to innovation, then the result is great modernization often identifiable through industrialization. From a philosophical perspective, industrialization may as well refer to the general change aspect whereby people adopt a totally different attitude towards their discernment of nature (Shorter & Tilly, 1974). A closer look reveals that in the late 20th century, a number of countries in the Middle East, the Caribbean region, Africa, Europe and Latin America experienced massive modernization. This modernization was represented by not only by high levels of economic authority but also by factors such as functional specialization and general structural differentiation. These factors, especially the autonomy of the economic system from the government contributed greatly to this high level of modernization or industrialization for that matter. Besides the factors highlighted above, there also others that equally led to the prosperity realizes in most countries in the above named region. These factors include: An open trading system enjoying minimal or no import duty greatly stimulated industrialization because of the emerging cost efficiency. Presence of free and flexible labour helped enhance industrialization. It is common knowledge that industrialization, besides energy and raw materials, depend entirely on not only cheap but also skilled and flexible labour. Presence of alternative markets enhanced the general economic performance as a result of highly enabled business opportunities presented by these markets Quick conventional learning capabilities and the affirmative work ethics in the populations equally played a role in encouraging and enhancing industrialization Skills in fast exploitation of the new technologies and scientific findings catapulted industrialization to further and higher grounds Why Industrialization Occurred As mentioned earlier, industrialization is the result of social change and economical development lying proximally to innovations and emerging technologies. Autonomy of social and economic systems from the governments undoubtedly led to industrialization. The process of industrialization occurred almost in every part of the world for particular reasons. For instance, the reasons behind industrialization in Europe, Great Britain, were not the same as those that lead to industrialization in Asia, China and Japan, nor are they the same for US or the Soviet Union. Early industrialization occurred in Europe and some of the reasons that led to this were among others: Massive changes in social institutions especially after disturbances such as feudalism and the English civil war Agrarian revolution led to surplus production of food with little effort thus enabling people to stop looking for jobs in agriculture and instead ventured into the cottage industries and later on to the better industries that emerged. Colonisations of other countries outside Europe found new financial markets and hence the accumulation of capital from the colonies combined with scientific revolution led to industrialization The biggest question that remains is why did early revolution occur in Europe alone and not in other regions such as china, Japan and the Middle East or other parts of the world A number of factors such as the government policies, ecology and culture have been fielded to explain or answer the above question. Judaeo-Christianity in Europe as opposed to Buddhism, Legalism and Taoism in the Middle East china and Japan demonstrate the differences in belief systems. These belief systems led to different political orientations whereby Europe and America embraced capitalism as opposed to the communism orientation of Japan, China, Middle East and other countries such as the Soviet Union. It is thus clear that the early industrialization occurred in the countries with capitalism orientations as opposed to the lack or low early industrialization in the communist countries. In the communist countries such as China and the Soviet Union valued family units and relationships more than the individual and this played a greater role in delaying industrialization (Hobsbawm, 1998). Early and Late Industrialized Countries Most of the countries industrialization is categorized under the late industrialization category except for the countries in Europe such as Germany and UK. US too, because of its capitalism orientation, had its industries developed n the early industrialization period and the industrialization continued through the late industrialization period. Japan and China had their industries develop entirely during the late industrialization period when there was an apparent competition between the capitalists and the communists (Deane, 2002). The communist countries responded and initiated industrialization having seen how European countries had progressed following the early industrialization. Therefore, the communist countries' late industrialization was simply as a result of the bid to compete with their capitalist counterparts. The reasons behind industrialization, either during early or late industrialization periods differ from on country to another. Even those that share the industrialization period often cite different reasons for the occurrence for industrialization. In US, for instance, industrialization was as a result of among other reasons: Improved production methods- after the Civil War there was a rapid spread of the use of machines in production. The result of the use of machines was the more goods produced and division of labour that further enhanced production. Natural resources- Abundance of raw materials in America e.g. abundant water helped a lot especially in powering the factory machines. Abundance of other resources other than water greatly enabled industrialization. A growing population- natural population plus immigration made the US population to almost triple between1870-1916. Actually, the population rose from 40 million to a 100 million during this period. Investment and banking- the business boom resulting from the rapid industrialization generated a quick boost in investments in corporate stocks and bonds of. As business increased further, more people invested greatly thereby the corporations received the capital they required to better and expand their operations. Just about this time of great investments, the number of banks increased greatly and they helped finance the country's economic development through loaning (McKay et al, 2002). As stated earlier, Japan underwent industrialization as a result of the need to compete. Japanese politicians toured Europe to assess what as happening as far as industrialization is concerned. When they went back they deliberately initiated industrialization. This deliberate industrialization saw the Bank of Japan use the tax funds to fund industrialization ventures. Model steel and textile factories were launched and to support the factories that would follow the educational system was expanded to provide the skills necessary for industrialization. Because of the same reason, a number of Japanese students were sent abroad in the west to gain skills that they would eventually use at home to further develop the industrialization agenda. This deliberate industrialization in Japan dame to be known as the Meiji Restoration that among other things, saw Japan abandon its Feudal orientation to embrace capitalism. Generally, Japan fell prostrate before western influence. The Meiji Restoration led to an increased silk production and this silk was for export to international markets. The Industrialization resulting from the restoration led to an increased demand for coal in the industries. This led 'to an increased coal production. The coal was not only used in factories but also in railroads which led to an increase in the number of Japanese merchants using the railroad. As a result of this, the railroad was also developed (Nakayama, 1964). With the industrialization in Japan, there was need to abolish the four social classes in Japan. The Samurais were the most effluent and the population was 10 times that of the privileged in France during the French revolution. They were requested to invest their money in government to help carry forward with the industrialization agenda. All the government, an oligarchy by then/, wanted was to raise enough capital to achieve its industrialization goals and dreams. In Germany, industrialization owed its origin in Great Britain. From 1730s onwards, the industrialization led to increased use of coal in industries. There were production industries which among other things produced textiles. The use of coal greatly revolutionalized the production of iron and steel. The innovation of the Steam engine greatly enabled industrialization. With the engine, energy became independent on its initial availability, i.e. wind was and manpower. The energy would now be produced sufficiently and this was good news as far as industrialization was concerned. It is important to not that in Germany, the use of machinery was developed early but could not help much because of the fragmentation of Germany into smaller states which made a common market without customs-barriers impossible. Germany's industrialization was similar in the sense that the innovations were ready and could be used but to shorten the industrialization route, they resolved to import the designs, machinery and techniques. Other preconditions for industrialization in Germany just like in US, is the population growth. Further, the previous numerous reforms in Germany set a pace for the process of industrialization. Finally, the establishment of the German Customs Union made for a great stimulus for industrialization in Germany (Kemp, 1985). The late industrialization as opposed to the earlier one was mainly characterized by an insatiable demand for railways as a means of transporting mass steel to factories and to the markets as well. Actually, steel mass production characterized the late industrialization. However, as time went on there was a slow shift to other products such as chemicals, automotive, petroleum refinery and electric industries. The introduction of hydroelectric power generation and the increasing availability of petroleum reduced the importance of coal thereby enhancing the potency of industrialization. Further, the electric age introduced simultaneity as opposed to the broken down mechanization witnessed in the early industrialization. The late industrialization also changed focus to global markets as opposed to the domestic markets. This is because the late industrialization had seen the development of giant industries especially in the US. These giant industrial corporations showed increased interest in global markets because their production, with electricity now available, surpassed the local market consumption. The late industrialization ended up polarizing society into classes. According to Karl Marx, the process of industrialization formed social classes and it was simply, especially in UK and Germany, a progression of feudal economic modes which was necessary to enable capitalism which would then develop into socialism before resting in communism. The second industrialization also saw a fierce competition between the capitalists and the communism countries whose desires to attaint the developments in industry, banking and commerce that the capitalist counterparts has already achieved. Indeed the late industrialization was a total blossoming and further development of what the early industrialization had founded. Banks were developed further, investments in industries increased, especially in US and Japan, as these industries tried to diversify their production lines (Snooks, 2000). Conclusion In conclusion, the capitalist superpower and their communist counterparts in the present society owe their superiority to both industrializations. It is only unfortunate that the countries that initiated industrialization such as the UK are now undergoing deindustrialization as younger countries are threatening to supersede it. Industrialization enabled the growth of the economic and social systems. The banking and commercial organs of economic action grew hundredfold during the industrialization periods. Marketing, export and import were also conceived during this time. Most countries such as Japan realized that it is only through industrialization that true development can be achieved because through it banking, commerce and investment automatically get enhanced. Till today, countries, either capitalist or otherwise believe in, industrialization only that today global markets play a major role in conversion of industrialization gains that can be appreciated. References Hobsbawm E, (1998): The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789-1848, Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd Fullerton, Ronald A. (January 1988). "How Modern Is Modern Marketing Marketing's Evolution and the Myth of the "Production Era"". The Journal of Marketing (New York City, NY: American Marketing Association 52 (1): 108-125 Deane P, (2002): The First Industrial Revolution, Cambridge University Press Shorter E & Tilly C, (1974): Strikes in France, 1830-1968, CUP Archive, pp4-10 Clapham J. H, (1926): An Economic History of Modern Britain: The Early Railway Age, 1820-1850, Cambridge University Press, Snooks, G.D., (2000): Was the Industrial Revolution Necessary, London & New York, Routledge Publishers McKay J P, Hill D & Buckler J, (2005): A History of Western Society Since 1300, Bedford Publishers, pp785-789 Nakayama I, (1964): Industrialization of Japan, Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies, pp53-62 Kemp T, (1985): Industrialization in Nineteenth-century Europe, Longman, pp111-119 Read More