SOC227H5 Lecture Notes - Feudalism, Wage Labour, Deindustrialization
SOC 227 NOTES:
Chapter 1:
•Industrialization refers to the technical aspects of the accumulation and
processing of a societys resources
•Capitalism describes key aspects of the economic and social organization of the
productive enterprise
•Capitalist system of production, when small number of individuals own and
control means for creating goods and services, while the majority are paid a
wage to work
•Capitalism and industrialization dramatically reshaped European society
economically, socially, and spatially
•EMERGENCE OF CAPITALISM IN 2 PERIODS: Mercantile /
Commercial Capitalism which began in 1500s and
industrial capitalism.
•Mercantile period, merchants and royalty traded internationally in variety of
goods, such as spices, stones, metals, and slaves, etc
•Global trade between Africa, asia, and the American colonies with Europe,
provided wealth for the growth of industrial capitalism
•Feudal society-people lived in country side, peasants farmed small plots of land
they didn’t own, land owners received rent , producer was also the
consumer
•Feudal society was pre-capitalist because wage labour was rare and there was
no business class
•Early Capitalism: began in early 1700s’, merchants distributed work to peasant
households, leading to larger workshops
•Growth in transportation and trade, more railways, and improved weapons
•The beginning of industrial mill: controlled by managers and people working for
wages
• Textile industries bought women into the paid labour force
