GEOG 216 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Flying Shuttle, Industrial Revolution, Power Loom
13 Jun 2018
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Lecture 17- the geography of the industrial revolution
Outline
• Economic growth and the roots of industrial activities in developed
economies
• Five key features of the Industrial Revolution (IR)
• European context and how the IR spreads geographically across different
waves of industrialization in time
• Emphasis on how industrialization is articulated at the regional level
Hugh explosion in terms of income growth
With the industrial revolution, we have a huge growth of per capita income
BUT only in some countries.
Industrial revolution: five key features
• General time frame for IR: 1760 to WWI
• Characterized by
o 1) Shift to large scale production (household level → factory)
ex: textile was made by the household but after, large scale
production
o 2) Technological innovations revolutionize production (Steam
engine, flying shuttle)
o 3) Development of new products (ex: food processing, we can
produce 10 goods at once and conserve it with caning for
example)
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o 4) Penetration of new (overseas) markets (no longer
constrained to domestic demand)
o 5) Institutional and organizational changes
• Degree to which different regions in Europe embrace these features
varies widely.
Three major waves of industrialization (Frontier expands outwards)
• 1st wave: Britain (1760-1850) social phenomena,
o Phase I: 1760- 1790- technological progress
o Phase II: 1790- 1820- new industrial complexes, agglomerations
o Phase III: 1820-1850s – Apexs of industrial revolution
• 2nd wave: Industrialization spreads to continental Europe (1850 to mid-
1870s) → Northern France, Belgium, Rhine region, Germany
• 3rd wave: spreads to intermediate Europe (mid-1870s to 1914) and North
America
1st wave, phase I of industrial revolution: Britain (1760-1790)
• Why Britain in the first place? They were somewhat developed in math and
physics but not as cutting edge as other universities like in Scotland, France etc.
Same thing happens in technical schools in Germany
• 1. Favorable political and legal climate:
o End of monarchy
o No foreign invasions for centuries, spared from warfare
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o 1707: political union of England and Scotland → formation of single
economic entity (no trade barriers or customs between the two
contrives → encourages trade)
o Govt policy: private profit and economic development
▪ (In France, the revolution, the Napoleonic wars, etc.)
• 2. Colonies (provide access to natural resources required for production
activities) → Britain accumulates wealth
• 3. Favorable geography, easy accessibility (sea transport, so accessible, but
also internal geography has large water networks good to transport bulky
goods)
• 4. Tradition of industrial employment (i.e. wage earning class; no feudal
privileges)
• 5. Conditions ripe for technological innovation
4. & 5. → Industrial organization and DoL
Industrial organization and the division of labor (DoL)
• Growing reliance on large scale manufacturing
• →
• DoL: fragmentation of tasks in the production process into different
specialized functions (ex: managers, supervisors, production workers)
• Adam Smith (1776): what are the sources of labor productivity growth (pin
makings tasks, goes into pin factory, sees different tasks, from cutting
pins, to putting pin heads on etc. It used to be that an artisan would take all
these steps and make them much much slower. Huge leap in productivity,
why? The division of labor
o Country craftsman (or artisan) vs. pin factory
• Consequences of DoL: + productivity, search for economies of scale … but
also deskilling of workers, lower wages, control and discipline
Workers only have to be skilled in 1 task, training is short and you can pay
them lower wages, so you have greater control. You can fire them and quickly
hire and train new workers.
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Document Summary
Lecture 17- the geography of the industrial revolution. With the industrial revolution, we have a huge growth of per capita income. 1870s) northern france, belgium, rhine region, germany: 3rd wave: spreads to intermediate europe (mid-1870s to 1914) and north. They were somewhat developed in math and physics but not as cutting edge as other universities like in scotland, france etc. Same thing happens in technical schools in germany: 1. Colonies (provide access to natural resources required for production activities) britain accumulates wealth: 3. Favorable geography, easy accessibility (sea transport, so accessible, but also internal geography has large water networks good to transport bulky goods: 4. Tradition of industrial employment (i. e. wage earning class; no feudal privileges: 5. Conditions ripe for technological innovation: & 5. It used to be that an artisan would take all these steps and make them much much slower.
