1 Work, Industry, and Canadian Society
Chapter One: Capitalism, Industrialization, and Post Industrial Society
Introduction
Most Canadians work in bureaucratic organizations today (e.g. hospital: levels, policies/procedures, medical records)
Industrialization: technical aspects of the accumulation and processing of a society’s resources
Capitalism: describes key aspects of the economic and social organization of the productive enterprise
Industrial Society: a society in which inanimate sources of energy (coal, electricity) fuel a production system that uses technology to process raw materials
Capitalist system of production: small number of individuals own and control crafting goods & services; majority have no direct ownership stake in the economy & are paid a wage to work for those who do
The Origins of Industrial Capitalism
Capitalism and industrialization dramatically re-shaped the structure of European society, economically, socially, and spatially
Emergence of Capitalism in Europe consisted of 2 periods (mercantile or commercial capitalism [1500s] and industrial capitalism [evolved later]
Mercantile: Merchants & royalty gained huge fortune by trading goods internationally
Trading network evolved linking Africa, Asia, and American colonies with Europe
Provided wealth that would fuel the growth of industrial capitalism in Europe
Early signs of capitalist commercial activity emerged out of a feudal society [industrial revolution not yet begun]
Work involved peasants farming small plots of land they did not own
Europe was predominantly a pre-market economy [producer was also consumer] and pre-capitalist economy [wage labour was rare & a business class had not yet become dominant]
Feudalism was built upon a system of mutual rights and obligations, reinforced by tradition
Early Capitalism
Industrial Capitalism began to emerge in the early 1700s
Putting-out system: merchants distributed work to peasant households and led to