Industrial Revolution.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The rise of mechanical power and the capitalistic factory system occurring in the towns replacing the more traditional rural farm work and cottage industries, especially in England from roughly 1770s to 1830s. Sometimes called the English Revolution - to associate the social change it incurred with the and . However unlike the other two revolutions it was not always beneficial. Engels first used the term in 1844. Before the Industrial Revolution most of the Working Class lived in the country as farm labourers. In off-seasons some turned to nail making, weaving, and other product-making jobs to supplement their farm wages. This work was usually done in the living room of their cottages - in between growing their own food and attending to other family responsibilities. Once they had finished a product they then had to hawk it around the countryside looking for a buyer. Husbands, wives and children all worked from dawn to dusk at these tasks. Whenever they could afford to they would take holiday from this monotonous, energy-sapping and hazardous work. Injuries and permanent deformities were common. With the improvement of steam power and machines Capitalists built factories to concentrate the artisans into one location and had them work for set wages or piecemeal. This decreased the rural population and built up the towns - and because of the lack of amenities also the slums. Compelled under the factory system the workers couldn't tend to family matters as readily as when they worked at home. The capitalist made huge profits but life reward and conditions for the workers didn't improve, indeed it often got worse.

Why Britain?
Britain did not lead the industrial revolution because its populace was any more than their Continental cousins but because of several interrelated factors.

The land was rich in minerals, esp iron ore and coal.
By the 16th century much deforestation had occurred, thereby forcing the improvement of existing metal technology and coal power to compensate for the lack of wood as fuel and building material.
Also the exploitation of colonies made England the most prosperous country in the world.

However, this prosperity was concentrated in the hands of the and rising merchant middle class. Market forces made the plight of the Working Class much worse. The slums of London became notorious and inspired many social reformers into action - both in England and Europe. , , Engel’s, , and Jack wrote about its evils. Many Working Class women were forced into prostitution or picking over rubbish heaps to feed their families. Other workers became assisted and fled to the colonies where the same market forces kept them poor.

Government Inquiry into Conditions
A British government inquiry was conducted into juvenile and female labour. In various departments of metal manufacture many thousands of children of both sexes were employed in Birmingham, Sheffield and other parts of the country. Generally they began work in their eighth year, but often earlier. In pin making at Warrington both boys and girls commenced when five years old, and worked twelve hours a day. Around Wolverhampton their work occasionally was extended to 15 or 16 hours a day for weeks at a time. In lace-making it was "customary for children to begin work at four, five, and six years; and instances were found in which a child only two years old was set to work." Often these workplaces were decrepit.

In general the buildings are very old, and many of them are in a dilapidated, ruinous and even dangerous condition. Nothing is more common than to find many of the windows broken. The shops are often dark and narrow; many of them, especially those used for stamping, are from four to seven feet below the level of the ground; these latter, which are cold and damp, are justly complained of by the workers. From defective construction all these old shops are liable to become 'suffocatingly hot in summer (and also at night when the gas is lighted) and very cold in winter. Efficient ventilation is a thing unknown in these places. The great majority of the shops are never whitewashed, but there are many creditable exceptions to this statement.' There were few large factories around Wolverhampton; most of the work was carried out in small workshops. These workshops are usually situated at the backs of the houses, there being very few in the front of a street; so that the places where the children and the great body of the operatives are employed are completely out of sight, in narrow courts, unpaved yards, and blind alleys. In the smaller and dirtier streets of the town, in which the poorest of the working classes reside, "there are narrow passages, at intervals of every eight or ten houses, and sometimes at every third or fourth house. These narrow passages are also the general gutter, which is by no means always confined to one side, but often streaming all over the passage. Having made your way through the passage, you find yourself in a space varying in size with the number of houses, hutches, or hovels it contains. They are nearly all proportionately crowded. Out of this space there are other narrow passages, sometimes leading to other similar hovels."

INDUSTRIAL TOWNS
Places of intensive industry, typified by pollution and squalored living conditions for Working Class. Personified by 'Coke town' in 'Hard Times'. Examples: Manchester (UK), Lille (France), Essen (Germany), Pittsburgh (USA). (USA).

Manchester became the cotton and textile centre of Britain because of the development of the world's first modern railway and its proximity to coal and the port of Liverpool. It also became the centre of liberal, economic and political thought as with John and Richard who are grouped under the 'Manchester School'. The liberal newspaper 'Guardian' (based in London since 1970) started out as the 'Manchester Guardian' in 1821.

Password

Confirm Password

I agree to the terms of service and privacy policy

Essen became industrialised when the family began their armaments manufacture.

Pittsburgh became the iron and steel centre for USA. Became known as one of the most dirtiest and smokiest cities in the country because of its heavy industry. , Frisk, Mellon, Westinghouse. Site of many violent industrial disputes including of 1892.

Lille: manufacturing centre for textiles, metallurgy, and general engineering. [PRS]

INDUSTRY
Manufacturing:
Building materials and components, glass, containers, chemicals, computers and peripherals, electronics and electrical equipment, consumer electronics and appliances, defence and aerospace, drugs and medical equipment, food, beverage, personal care products, motor vehicles, parts and tyres, office and photographic equipment ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Essen became industrialised when the family began their armaments manufacture.

Lille: manufacturing centre for textiles, metallurgy, and general engineering. [PRS]

Services:
Airlines, banks and savings institutions, business services, financial services, food, lodging and travel services, information, entertainment and software, insurance, real estate, telecommunications, transport, utilities

Trade: Retail Natural resources: Oil, gas and oilfield services

INLAND REVENUE DEPARTMENT
NZ tax dept. More than 14,000 taxpayers escaped an audit by the IRD in the year to June 1997 because of a shortage of staff, its annual report has revealed. It managed to complete only 67,980 out of a budgeted 82,450 investigations. The shortfall was due to the lack of audit staff the report said. Since 1995, the IRD has made 550 staff redundant in a restructuring programme. Operations manager said the restructuring had allowed the dept to deliver a "better service". [Press 23/10/97] In 1999 media reports claimed a certain staff member boasted how he had driven tax defaulters to suicide.

INNER CITY
The inner city is the central portion of a city, comprising its business district and the areas of housing and industry that immediately surround it. Through much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the inner cities of the United States were dynamic and growing, fuelled by the growth of business and industry and by the influx of immigrants. Beginning in the 1950s, however, cities began losing their white, middle-class populations to the suburbs, as the construction of new highways made large-scale automobile commuting feasible, and government programs--such as federally guaranteed home mortgages for World War II veterans--encouraged suburban home construction. Major inner-city stores followed their customers, relocating in suburban shopping malls.

Urban factories were abandoned and new facilities built in the countryside. As the tax base--the taxable value of commerce and real estate--eroded, city revenues shrank. The severe budget shortfalls facing the federal government as well as many states, aggravated by the recession of 1991, reduced the resources available to cities, while increasing demand for services of all kinds. The populations remaining in the inner cities are largely black, Hispanic, or recent immigrants, and the industrial jobs that supported these populations have disappeared as the factories have closed or been moved.

Attempts to reverse the degeneration of U.S. inner cities have ranged from large-scale programs, such as the many federally funded urban renewal schemes since the 1950s, to the recent homesteading efforts aimed at rescuing abandoned housing. The 1970s and '80s saw a movement toward "gentrification" of some areas by middle-class professionals, but this activity rarely reached the areas in greatest need. In fact, housing shortages were sometimes exacerbated by this redevelopment as poorer residents were forced to move from areas they could no longer afford. By the 1990s even the modest effects that these programs had produced had been largely eroded by economic conditions and reduced spending, leaving little evidence of sustainable positive movement. Most urban planners feel that without massive employment programs and fundamental and innovative improvements in mass transit and other facilities, the inner cities will remain conspicuous areas of decay. [GRL]

Vertical integration: absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution.

Factories were set up in an area where transport and technology existed so that it could be exported easily and cheaper.

The Location of Industry

Factors influencing industrial location

Many factors influence the location of industry. Initially, in the United Kingdom industry was fairly closely tied to where the raw materials were, in particular coal for power.

Nowadays, the change from heavy industry to light, footloose industry, has meant that industries can locate anywhere and so other factors, such as communications links and government policy, become far more important.

Location factors are easily divided into two sections: Physical factors and socio-economic (human) factors.

A general rule is that the physical factors were the primary influence over the location of the old industries in Britain, whilst the economic ones are increasingly important in industrial location now.

Physical factors

Accessibility: The site of the new factor needs to be accessible, so that importing of raw materials and exporting of finished products is easy.

Early industry had to have good access to raw materials, usually though natural routes like rivers. Nowadays access is needed to transport routes.

Climate: The climate could affect where an industry locates, as it needs to attract workers to the area. This is not a particularly important factor.

Land: The site of an industry is very important. Usually, flat land is the most essential thing to find. Most industries also try to find areas where there is room to expand once production has become successful.

Victorian industries often located in the inner city areas of towns, which didn’t allow much room for expansion, but was required because the work-force could live within walking distance of the factory.

Today, cars have allowed industry to move to out-of-town locations as the workers can drive to the factory.

Power: Initially, industry had to locate right beside its power source. Water power was used at first, and then the burning of coal produced steam power. Both sources of energy restricted where industries could locate, as they had to be beside a suitable river or near the coalfield.

Now, industries can gain their power from the National Grid and so power does not really influence location a great deal.

Raw Materials: Old, heavy industry required large amounts of bulky raw materials, which were very costly to transport, and so the industry located close to them. Newer industries are described as being footloose, as they are not tied by being near raw materials, which are smaller and easier to transport.

Socio-economic factors

Capital: Very important to any industry. Companies cannot set up their chosen industry without investment of money. This may come from private sources or from the government.

Communications: Probably the most important factor for new industries nowadays. Most need communications links not only to the rest of the country, but to the rest of Europe and the World. Transport routes such as the motorways, airports, railways and the ports are all things that will attract industrial location.

Communications increasingly also includes access to the internet, fax and phones. All these allow industries to have a greater freedom of choice over their location.

Government policy: Governments can greatly influence the location of industry, by giving tax incentives, cheap rent and other benefits to companies locating in certain areas of the country. Often these are places, which the government wants to develop economically. Government policy also lead to the closure of many of the heavy industries in the United Kingdom, such as numerous coal mines and ship building yards.

Labour Supply: Very important to old, labour-intensive industries. This is why many of them located in the inner cities, so that there was a huge pool of potential workers close by. With the growth in car ownership, and industries becoming more mechanised labour supply is not such an important factor for most industries. However, some industries rely on it.

Many of the quaternary industries in the UK are found near the university towns of Oxford and Cambridge, as they wants to attract skilled, knowledgeable graduates for their industry.

Markets: Access to markets is vital, and this ties in with the section on communications. In the last 19th Century the market for most industries would be fairly local. Into the 20th century the market widened with improved transport technology. Now, the market for many companies is a global one.

The changing location of industry in the United Kingdom

Over the past two hundred years, industry has changed remarkably in the United Kingdom. From the cottage industries of the early 19th century, through the Industrial Revolution and the growth of heavy manufacturing, to the decline of those industries and the growth of footloose, hi-tech industries. The graph in the section on 'Employment structures' showed how the employment in the different sectors has changed.

Case Studies

Manufacturing industry: South Wales

South Wales has experienced both growth and decline as an industrial area.

During the 19th Century Southern Wales became a vitally important industrial area, for both iron and steel production. The steep valleys, with their fast flowing rivers, provided power and transport. The hills were rich with raw materials, such as coal, iron ore and limestone, and the area was close to the ports of Cardiff and Swansea.

In 1860 there were over 30 iron works in the valleys of South Wales. They provided vital employment for the local villages, which became almost solely dependent on the new industries.

During the next 40 years improvements in the smelting process, meant that the production of iron was replaced by steel manufacture, which was more profitable. The natural resources needed were the same.

By the 1990’s only two steelworks were left in South Wales, and both of them were on the coast. The resources had run out, only one coal-mine remained working and the many small works in the valleys had closed down, causing huge social problems.

The new works were integrated steel works, which imported their raw materials from abroad. These aimed to make the industry more efficient and competitive in a growing world market. Not only is there competition form other countries but also form other materials that are increasingly being used instead of steel materials, such as aluminium and plastics.

An example of one is the integrated steelworks at Port Talbot. Opened in 1954, it is an integrated steelworks, which is one in which all processes of the steel making industry occur under one roof.

The coal and iron ore deposits of South Wales have long since run out or become too costly to get at, so both of these raw materials are imported from places such as Africa and South America.

Port Talbot has many locational advantages. There is a large area of flat land, near to the sea for importing and exporting purposes. Nearby is a large workforce and access to the entire British market through the excellent motorway links. It has created employment opportunities in the area, and has encouraged further investment and growth.

South Wales is experiencing something of a recovery again, thanks to being at one end of the M4 Corridor. Industrial Parks have been established outside of the main cities, to benefit from the large workforce, good transport links and available land.

There have also been government grants and loans made available to encourage industrial location in the area. Companies such as Sony, Bosch and Toyota have all re-located to South Wales.

Hi-tech industry: The M4 Corridor

New industrial regions in Britain have tended to grow up along main communication routes. The best example of this is the “Sunrise Strip”, which takes in the area around motorways such as the M11, M23, M3 and, most importantly, the M4.

These industries are described as being footloose. They have generally grown up over the last 25 years in “growth areas”, along communications routes. Although they do bring prosperity to regions, the new industries actually employ few people in comparison to the older, declining, heavy industries. Traditional location factors have been super-seeded by newer ones.

As access to raw materials is relatively unimportant nowadays, location, although dominated by communications considerations, also can increasingly take into account the social needs of its employees. Thus climatic, scenic, health and entertainment factors have to be included. In turn the industries try to locate near to places where a skilled workforce could be employed, such as around the university towns of Oxford or Cambridge.

The Sunrise Strip has many locational advantages:

1. The motorway system, which allows easy access to all parts of the United Kingdom.

2. Easy access, via the roads, to the Channel Tunnel and ports to allow export abroad.

3. The close proximity of Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead and Luton airports, all of which could be used to export products.

4. The skilled workforce found in university towns of Oxford, Cambridge, Reading and Bristol.

5. Close proximity and good access to London, where the major government functions and financial trading occurs.

6. The concentration of other industries means that ideas and knowledge could be shared, there will be a concentration of suitable skilled labour and transport costs may be reduced between agglomerated industries.

7. A very attractive natural environment, which would provide a very pleasant place to live for the workers. Areas such as the Cotswolds and the Mendip Hills are in easy reach of the Sunrise Strip.

Two other good examples of similar new industrial areas are:

1. Silicon Glen in Central Scotland.

2. Silicon Valley in California, USA.

Science Parks: Cambridge

The first Science Park was established on the west coast of the United States near to Stanford University in the 1940’s.

The first one established in the United Kingdom was outside Edinburgh in 1971. Now there are many dotted around the country that all share specific characteristics that sets them aside from the normal industrial estate.

Science Parks are areas of industry that have grown up on Greenfield sites outside of major cities around the world. The land is less costly than in the cities and the access to transport routes is a prime consideration in their location. Often, Science Parks have a large amount of green land to try to make it as pleasant a working environment as possible.

Business Parks are very similar, however Science Parks have one other thing that sets them apart. They usually have very close links to a major research institution, probably a university. In Britain a very good example is the Cambridge Science Park.

Cambridge is a perfect location for the types of hi-tech, often quaternary industries that locate there. The M11 offers a very quick route to London and beyond. Stanstead airport is 30 minutes down the motorway. There are close links with the university, allowing researchers from there to work in tandem with researchers from the companies of the Science Park. Much of the work is research and development in areas such as pharmaceuticals and micro-electronics.

Industry in Europe: The Ruhr Valley

The Ruhr Valley is the industrial heartland of Europe. It is located on the western side of Germany and encompasses large cities such as Dortmund and Dusseldorf. During the Second World War it was one of the prime targets for the Allied Forces.

The region is served by two of Europe’s largest rivers, the Ruhr and the Rhine. These allowed the region to develop as they initially provided power, as well as transport, which is still used today. Huge barges travel along the River Rhine loaded with raw materials or the produce of the Ruhr Valley industries.

Its central location makes it a perfect place for industry, as export to the whole of Europe is very easy. The many local cities mean that there is a huge workforce in the area.

Natural resources occur in abundance. These were the main reason for the industry locating here in the first place. There are huge deposits of coal, which powered the heavy industries.

The Ruhr Valley is primarily an area of heavy manufacturing industry, such as steel manufacture, chemical production and engineering. Over the past half century the car manufacture industry has also grown massively in the area, as well as food processing and oil refining.

However, with the natural resources slowly declining, there has had to have been a move towards more hi-tech industries locating in the area. This has helped the area, however there is still a problem of unemployment due to the traditional industries, upon which the area relies so heavily, having to become more mechanised and efficient.

Industry in the Developing World

Newly industrialised countries: South Korea

There are a number of countries around the world that can be accurately described as

Newly Industrialised Countries (NIC’s). They all share the same characteristics, and one of the best examples is South Korea.

South Korea is one of the countries in south-east Asia described as being part of the Tiger Economies. The others are Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. NIC’s share the characteristics of being:

- An increasing exporter to the world market, usually by copying existing products and then re-producing them for a much cheaper price.

- Rapid growth in the manufacturing sector, which results in far more exports and a rapidly rising GDP.

There are three stages to the development of an NIC, from its traditional society to a developed world society. These are shown on the diagram and described below. The time frame for the whole process can be as little as 30 years.

Traditional society:

- Most industry is labour intensive, concentrating on small cottage-style traditional industries, using local raw materials. Examples could include food processing or textile manufacture.

- Often, the majority of people are still in the primary sector, doing things such as farming.

- There is little technology and most people have very little money.

- Most products are imported from abroad, meaning that the country is relying on other for many of its needs.

Import substitution industries:

- The country decides to promote its own industries.

- New companies copy products from well-known companies, and then make them for a far cheaper price.

- The country operates a strict regime of trade tariffs and high taxes for any similar products being imported into the country. This is aimed at protecting their own companies whilst they grow.

- Example industries are car manufacture, computer manufacture and the manufacture of other electrical goods, such as hi-fi’s.

Export orientated industries:

- Once the new companies have become established in their own country they are unleashed upon the world market.

- These industries are now capital intensive, using high technology and aimed at making a big profit.

- The GDP of the country starts to rocket, often growing at well over 5% per year, which is an amazing rate.

- The country is now described as being an NIC.

The impact of multi-national companies

Multi-national or Trans-national companies are ones which locate their factories throughout the world. This gives them many benefits, such as access to the world market, cheap labour, cheaper production costs, and therefore greater profits. The headquarters of the company remains in its original country, usually one of the most developed countries in the world, such as the UK or USA. They then have factories throughout the world, which either make parts or entire finished products for the company to sell on the world market.

Most of the largest multi-national companies are oil companies such as BP and Exxon

(Esso), as well car companies (for example, Ford, Toyota, Nissan and Volkswagen). Other well-known companies such as Coca-Cola, IBM and Sony are also defined as being multi-national.

Multi-national companies locate around the world for their own benefit - in other words - to make as much money as possible. They bring with them both advantages and disadvantages for the country that plays host to them.

How do multi-national companies affect their host country?

Investment:

Advantages: The companies bring much needed money into the country. Although most of their profits do return to the company’s country of origin, the local economy does benefit.

Disadvantages: The wages paid to local workers are often low and some companies have been accused of exploiting the local workforce rather than benefiting it. There are often tax incentives for these companies to locate in countries in the Developing World. This added to the fact that they take most of there profits out of the country, means that the actual economic benefit to the country could be minimal.

Technology:

Advantages: The companies help the development of the country by bringing in technology and knowledge that the host country does not possess.

Disadvantages: Unless the company actively participates in a program to educate local companies in the new technologies, the country’s industry will not really benefit. Sharing too much information might worry multi-national companies, as they could find themselves with increased competition from local companies.

Transport:

Advantages: The new companies often help to improve transport links around the area.

Disadvantages: The transport links that do receive financial help from the multi-nationals often only serve the direct routes and needs of that company, not the wider area as well.

Employment:

Advantages: They create jobs for the local population.

Disadvantages: Often the jobs are highly skilled and so the company brings in their own people to do them. Also, the technological nature of many of these companies means that there aren’t as many jobs as there might have been.

Growth poles:

Advantages: The new multi-national companies act as growth poles for other similar companies. They could encourage more companies to locate in that country once they see the benefits that it brings.

Disadvantages: Only a limited range of companies find that moving to a Developing World location is beneficial. They will only move there if it makes economic sense for the country. They do not consider the potential benefits to the host country.

Environment/Safety:

Advantages: Companies bring with them the technology and expertise to reduce harmful pollution and create a safe working environment.

Disadvantages: Many multi-national companies have very poor records on pollution and worker safety. They have been accused of trying to cut corners with both safety and pollution in order to keep costs down.

Multi-national companies in Brazil:

Brazil has encouraged multi-national companies to locate in the industrial areas around the major cities of Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo.

Excellent transport links to most places in the world have encouraged companies to locate in the area.

Companies such as Coca-Cola, Fiat and Volkswagen all have located in this area. There are plentiful natural resources, a large workforce and lots of suitable land for large-scale factories.

Large industrial areas have been specifically set up outside of these great cities for the companies to locate in.