Industrial revolutions and global
implications
Outline
• Introduction
• The commercial context of industrial change
• Labour and machines: who did the work and
where did they do it?
• The geography of manufacturing
• The rise of the factory system
• Accounting for industrial change in C18 Britain
Term Industrial Revolution coined by economic
historian Arnold Toynbee, in reference to period
1760-1830:
‘It was in this period that modern Political Economy
took its rise’.
Lectures On The Industrial Revolution In England,
London, 1884
A Revolution in Two Senses:
• Technological change meaning inventions of
machines that provide power and/or produce
goods
• Productive change meaning expansion of
outputs thanks to the employment of new
sources of energy (e.g. coal-fired steam
engines)
Consequences and Significance:
• Economic: the rise of the factory system; the
‘take-off of the West’
World manufacturing output: percentages of total
1800: UK 4.3, China 33.3, India 19.7
1850: UK 19.9, China 19.7, India 8.6
• Social: the birth of modern political
economy/society
Modern Times (?)
James Watt’s steam engine (1760s)
Richard Arkwright’s spinning frame
(1768)
Reassessments:
• Lowered estimates of economic growth during
classical period (1760-1830) since 1990s
• Industrial Revolution Not mean
Industrialization
• Reactions against technological determinism:
new technology  new kind of economy
The commercial context
• Mid C18 UK was already a sophisticated marketeconomy
• Home and foreign demand for products,
including goods made or powered by new
technology, strong influence on rise of industry
1760-1830
Shift in orientation of British re-export trade,
1700 versus 1800
1700: 80% of GB exports to Europe, 10% to colonies
1800: 30% of GB exports to Europe, 60% to colonies
The commercial context
• How did GB gain markets? Mercantilist policies from
mc17
• Paradox: commodities that underpinned the expansion
of international trade were most heavily taxed
• -Trade in colonial and exotic commodities, such as
printed calico (cotton textile) have significant impact
on habits of consumption, investment and spending
• Commercial framework and social overhead capital
were crucial for the growth of the economy during Ind
Rev and industrialization
Labour and machines
• Industry in classical period means a largely
female workforce
• History of work with women added-in changes
view of Ind Rev and of growth of productivity
in the period. It was women who counted as
workers in new ‘high productivity’ industries
such as cotton textiles
Women working carding machines
Labour and machines
• Why were women employed? Organizational
and technological developments, plus female
labour enhanced profitability
• Entrepreneurs seeking to find more and
cheaper labour supply; cheaper female labour
viewed as a source of profit for tradesmen
with labour-intensive manufacturing
Domestic manufacturing
Labour and machines
Early spinning Jennies operated by girls, part of
the domestic (putting-out system)
The scarcity of skilled calico printers and highstatus of skilled printers was the main reason
producers looked for low-paid women workers
Labour and machine
Labour and machines: spinning jenny
operator
The geography of manufacturing
• Proto-Industrialization: theory about the
correspondence between regionallyconcentrated rural domestic industries and C19
specialized manufacturing regions
• Factors shaping rural manufacturing:
Agricultural setting; gender-specific labour needs;
local outlooks on trade
• Rural manufacturing had many different forms
that suit local situations: can’t make simple links
between artisan mfg practices in a region and
shift to factory system
The geography of manufacturing
Four early modern proto-industrial regions
(out of ten) became long-term Industrial
regions in C19: West Yorks; South Lancs.;
South Yorks.; and West Midlands
The rise of the factory system
• Definitions of a factory
-Technological: centralised production and
power-source
-Organisational: hierarchical management and
close supervision of labour
Historians debate which element (technology or
production) made factories efficient and
profitable
Manufactory
The rise of the factory system
• Why did manufactories get so big?
• Landes and Chandler: technology tends
towards economies of scale
• Berg: artisan production was the basis of
innovative, small-scale capitalism (skill
intensive, not power intensive)
The rise of the factory system
• False dichotomy between artisan/shop versus
unskilled worker/factorypart of myth of origins
• Research shows diversity of mfg organization
even in single industry, e.g. putting-out system
was used to supply factories
• Also, varieties exist within the Factory system,
e.g. in hiring and supervision; small
holders/artisans could rent space in mills in wool
textile weaving
The rise of the factory system
• Large Factories were several factories under
one roof
• Key advantage of factory system was control
over labour force
• Bosses dictate hours and intensity of work
under supervision; less and less worker
control over raw materials, and less chance for
‘fringe benefits’ to workers
Accounting for industrial change in C18
Britain
Why did the Industrial Revolution happen first
in the UK?
Theories:
Infrastructure
Political and economic integration
Cultural/Social
Natural/Geographic