1. Industrial and Postindustrial Societies
Sociology: Chapter 5, Section 4

2. Basic Features of Industrial Societies
The Industrial Revolution created a society that became dependent on science and technology to produce its goods
Sociologists call this an industrial society

3. The Industrial Revolution brought workers from the farms to the factories

4. From an Agricultural to an Industrial Society
There are some basic structural changes that happen when societies shift from an agricultural to an industrial foundation
Industrialism brings a change away from simple, traditional technology (plows and hammers) toward using scientific knowledge to create more complex tools and devices
Early examples of these advances include the steam engine and the harnessing of electrical power
More recent examples include nuclear energy, airplanes, and the computer

5. Each of these inventions has changed the world

6. From an Agricultural to an Industrial Society
In industrial societies, animal and human labor is replaced by machines
This turning to machines is called mechanization
With the help of this machinery, farmers are now able to produce enough food to support themselves and many others
This resulting surplus of food allows for urbanization, where people move away from farms and villages to large cities

7. Farm machinery could do the work of fifty people, meaning a lot more food for everybody

8. Changing Role of the Family
The role of the family and of the home is affected by industrialization in many ways
Economic activities, once carried out in the home, move to the factories
Education, which had consisted of teaching farming techniques in the home, now move to a formal school
Urbanization pulls families apart, as people go off to faraway cities to find jobs

9. Changing Role of the Family
Women enter the workplace, and become less subordinate to their husbands
Because people are leaving their parents to go find jobs elsewhere, social class is based more on occupational achievement than on social class of one’s parents
Personal choice and love replace arranged marriages

10. Ferdinand Tönnies
Ferdinand Tönnies ( ) was a German sociologist who wrote in 1887 about what he called Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
Gemeinschaft is German for “community”
It describes a society based on tradition, kinship, and intimate social relationships
These relationships were found in preindustrial societies
Gesellschaft is German for “society”
It is characterized by weak family ties, competition, and less personal relationships
It is found in industrial societies

12. The Two Societies of Tönnies
Gemeinschaft
Gesellschaft

13. Emile Durkheim
About six years after Ferdinand Tönnies published his theory, Emile Durkheim made a similar observation
He also talked about two types of society, based on their social solidarity
Social solidarity refers to how much people stick together through thick and thin
Durkheim believed that social solidarity is determined by how labor is divided

14. When people have solidarity with each other, they stick together and are stronger as a unit than they would have been if the had remained independent from each other

15. Durkheim’s Two Types of Social Solidarity
In societies where most people are doing the same kind of work, like in a hunting and gathering society or in a farming community, mechanical solidarity is the foundation of social unity
This mechanical solidarity achieves unity by a consensus of beliefs, values and norms, as well a strong pressure for conformity, and a dependence on tradition and family
These tend to be small, nonliterate societies
People tend to behave, think, and feel the same ways as each other, and the needs of the group are placed above the needs of the individual

16. Durkheim’s Two Types of Social Solidarity
On the other hand, if everyone in a society has their own specialized job to perform, then an organic solidarity can develop
Organic solidarity occurs because people in specialized jobs depend on each other to perform their duties, so that whole society functions like a complicated machine that has specialized parts
For example, people rely on being able to go to the barber to get their hair cut, the baker to get their bread, and candlestick maker to get their candles
These are industrial societies, reliant on specialized and interdependent service industries
It’s called organic solidarity because Durkheim compared society to a body with specialized organs, which need eyes, ears, and noses to all do their part

18. Major Features of Postindustrial Society
Some societies, such as the United States, have passed beyond an industrial society into a postindustrial society
In this type of society, the emphasis is on providing services and information rather than producing goods through manufacturing
According to sociologist Daniel Bell (1999), there are five major features of a postindustrial society, which will be covered on the next few slides

19. How mankind has evolved into its post-industrial society

20. Feature #1
For the first time, the majority of the labor force are employed in services rather than in agriculture or manufacturing
The industries that emphasize service include the government, banking, medical care, fast food, and entertainment
They do not produce tangible goods such as oil or steel
In 2004, about 75-80% of workers were in service jobs

21. This graph indicates the trend in the relationship between service and manufacturing jobs

22. Feature #2 White-collar employment replaces much blue-collar work
In 1956, for the first time, white collar workers outnumbered blue collared workers, and that lead is increasing
The fastest increase has been in professional and technical employment

23. A blue-collar worker is someone who performs manual labor
A blue-collar worker is someone who performs manual labor. Often something is physically being built or maintained. In contrast, the white-collar worker typically performs work in an office environment and may involve sitting at a computer or desk.

24. Feature #3
Technical knowledge is the key organizing feature in postindustrial society
Knowledge is used for creating innovations as well as making government policy
As technical knowledge becomes more important, so do educational and research institutions

25. People need a wide breadth of knowledge to understand context as well as a deep specialized knowledge to be an expert in the field

26. Feature #4 Technological change is planned and assessed
In an industrial society, the effects of a technology are not assessed before its introduction
When the automobile engine was invented, no one asked if it would have an effect on the environment
In postindustrial societies, the effects of an innovation are considered before it is introduced

27. Do you think we would have reconsidered the invention of the automobile if we foresaw the effects that pollution would have on the earth?

28. Feature #5 Reliance on computer modeling in all areas
Computers are able to consider a large number of interacting variable simultaneously
A model created by ZONA Technology shows aircraft deformations due to flutter.

29. Social Instability in Postindustrial Society
Historian Francis Fukuyama (1999) believed that the transition to a service economy increases social instability
He wrote about deteriorating social conditions that began in the mid-1960s. He noted:
Inner-city areas of the wealthiest nations are almost uninhabitable
Kinship, which had been declining the last 200 years, fell of sharply in the second half of the 20th century
Marriages and births declined while divorce soared
One third of children in the U.S. and one half of children in Scandinavia are born out of wedlock
Trust in government and institutions declined throughout the second half of the twentieth century

30. Francis Fukuyama noted significant social trends since the mid-1960s

31. Will Social Instability Continue?
However, according to Fukuyama, this social instability is now lessening
There is evidence that we are returning to social stability
Rates of divorce, crime, and out of wedlock births have all decreased recently
In the United States, crime is down 15% since the early 1990s
Divorce rates peaked in the early 1980s and are down
Welfare roles have decreased since the early 1990s

32. Divorce rates per 1000 married women had been climbing steadily, but seems to now be on a downward trend

33. Why the Return to Social Stability?
Fukuyama writes that humans find it difficult to live without norms and values
“The situation of normlessness… is intensely uncomfortable for us, and we will seek to create new rules to replace the old ones that have been undercut.” (Fukuyama, 1999)
Since culture can change, it can be restructured to fit changing economic and social circumstances

34. Assessment
Complete #1-4 on page 163