Learning Paths » 5B Interacting
The text I am going to analyse is ""The chief features of the Industrial Revolution", by A. Thonbee, a famous brittain hystorical who highlights some of the most important features about I.R. and its consequences over population, economy and evolution of thought during 18th and 19th century.
After a short introduction, in which the author gives me a definition of I.R. as a process who takes over from ancient "home-economy", the root of Medieval system, to a modern way of production based on factory, the author goes straight to the point. He explains the main thesys of the essay: I. R. is an evolution only produces wealth, without well-being.
To argue his idea Thonbee divided essay in about ten paragraphes, in which he gives a miscellaneous of quality and quantity info about modifications take place in very short lapse of time, resumed in two blocks: decrease of rural people linked to uncontrollable growht of cities, and on the other hand the increase of yield comes to modernization of lands.
Reading them people can have an idea regard the great period of changes, in particular for population who lived in the countryside, and the development of new science, like Economy, Socialism, study about welfare.
But the heart of his argumentation is the analysis of common citizen conditions: he says that despite new richness comes to industrial investments, he can't reach a real situation characterized by well being, because rising capitalism doesn't put attention on life of its workers, but only on profit.
In my opinion the essay is clear and deep: Thonbee shows using concrete data to explain how I.R. lays the foundation stone of current economy system: notwithstanding he lived in second part of 19th century, he foresaw central role of wealth and the slow collapse of importance of individual person, lost in the alienation caused by depersonalize correlated to a vision centers around furios run to reach the highest gain.
All in all, reading "The Chief of the Industrial Revolution", I found not only a historical document but also a text can help me to be aware of the causes of present globalization.
NEW VERSION for 22-09
Arnold Thonbee's essay deals with "The Chief Features of the Industrial Revolution". It's opens with an introduction in which I.R. is definited as an historical process.
The essayst goes on developming his argumentations in order to explain the radical change brought by I.R. He explains it mainly consisting in the SUBSTITUTION of COMPETION "for the medieval regulations which had previousl controlled the production and distribution of wealth." The consequences of this process meant the birth of two differences systems of thought: ECONOMIC SCIENCE and SOCIALISM that are extremely opposite.
Then A. Thonbee carries on highlighting the first thing that strikes an observer: the exponential growth of population interelated with a drastic decrease of people living in lands, caused by ENCLOSURE SYSTEM and CONOLIDATION FARMS who, in any case, don't mean lower yield comes from rural places.
To the contrary, thanks to "the substitution of scientific for unscientific culture", lands go through a period of improvements.
Passing to consider manufactures, the historian underlines how the introduction of machines as Crompton's mule or spinning jenny by Hargreaves change radically the rules of production of goods. For example he points out the wide expansion of iron manufactured, after introduction of nex machines.
Industrial Revolution also touches communication system, especially as regards trasportation by waters.
Another change, he says, is the regular period of depression of markets, caused by over-production without appropriate disposal of goods, unknown to previous economy system.
It represents one of the most influential feature of Industrial Revolution and it causes the dismissal of a large numer of workmen, binded to misery. The next step is the creation of trade union who want to protect rights of laboures.
After that the essayst goes straight to the main thesys: the new way of production, brings to work doing by persons who have no property in the goods they manufacture, and the immediate consequence is people don't take part in enrichment of their nation, leds to a progressive alienation of workmen, in which "the old relations between masters and men disappeared and a cash nexus was substituted for human tie".
In few words: the I.R. produces wealth but not well-being.