1St Chapter ( Industrial Sociology )

1st chapter ( industrial sociology )

Introduction

Industrial socio is a comparatively new term which gained popularly about the middle of the 20st Century. An independent branch of the Science of Sociology, the history of the industrial sociology has been traced to trade studies introduced by Elton Mayo and his associate between 1924 -32: Thus Elton Mayo; a known sociologist has been identified as the father of Industrial socio.

Meaning

The 'term’ industrial sociology includes two terms industry and sociology. ‘The term Industrial means concerning the industry. The word industry is derived from the Latin word 'industrial' which means resourcefulness

Definition

According to Miller and form"Industrial sociology is a substantive area of general sociology which might more accurately be termed the sociology of work organization or the sociology of economy".

According to I.H.Smith, "Industrial sociology is concerned with industry as a social system, including those factors (technical, economic, politic) which effect the structure, the functions and the changes in that system.

Scope of industrial sociology

According to Burls, the subject matter of industrial sociology includes

Study of functions
Study of functional group
Analysis of the beaurocratic industry
Analysis of industrial relations
The influence of industrialism on the individual

Social relation in industry

Internal relation

a)Formal

b)Informal

c)Mixed

External relation

Importance of industrial sociology

Remedies to problems of industrial society
Increase in knowledge
Increase in scientific knowledge
Stability of industrial society
Social labor affaire
Helps in personality integration
Helps in familial integration
Helps in labour legislations
Helps in industrial management
National peace and management
Industrial planning
Peace of prosperity
Choice of occupation
Betterment in international relationshi

Chapter 2

EVOLUTION OF INDUSTRY

Introduction

Types of productive system were never the same over different periods of history. Today, we are in the post-industrialism stage.
Modern industrialism represents a phase in the development of human knowledge concerning industry.
This is called complex because the tools or instruments used are more sophisticated. This may be further divided into early industry and modem industry.
Modem industry originated during the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th century.

Early Industrialism

The productive system found in most of the early civilizations and in many pre-literate societies can be called early industrialism.
Some of the features of early industrialism are :

The Use of Tools and Machines:
Excess Production:
The Division of Labour:
Means of Transport and Development of Market:
Development of Arts and Crafts:
The Art of Writing:
Use of Money:
Acquisition of Raw Materials:
Refinement of Goods:

The socio-economic organization of the western society prior to the Industrial Revolution could be divided into three different systems. They are

i)The manorial system,

ii)The guild system and

iii)The domestic system.

The Manorial System

The manorial or feudal system prevailed in Europe, especially in England from about the ninth to twelfth century.
Agriculture was the primary industry under this system.

Manors each consisted of up to three classes of land:

Demesne,
Dependent
Free peasant land,

The Guild System

The system had its golden age in the 13th and 14th centuries when it was strongly entrenched in all branches of industry.
The origin of guild system is not definitely known. Some literature indicates it was practiced in Germany as early as first century AD, while some other literature puts it in Italy 9th Century.
The guild had two principal aims. Firstly, it was to preserve equality, at least among the masters of the craft.
Secondly, it was to maintain its economic position in society.

Internal Social Structure of the Guilds

The internal social structure of the guild consisted of three classes of members. They were:

masters,
apprentices
journeymen.

Types of Guilds

There were two types of guilds:

a)the merchant guilds

b)Craft guilds

Decay of the Guilds

By the sixteenth century the guild system was showing signs of decay. Changes taking place since then were beyond their control and finally brought about the downfall of the system. According to Schneider and Gisbert, the factors operating to weaken the guild system were the following.

Lack of Harmony of the System:
The Hostile Groups:

The Accumulation of Wealth:

Transformation of Craft Guilds:
Widened Market:
The Rise of Middle Men:
Historical Events:
The Scientific and Technological Inventions
Internal Causes:

The Putting-out or Domestic System

As the guild system declined, there came a new system of production known as the putting-out system or domestic system
The new system existed side by side with both the guild system and the factory system.
Though the system appeared in the 13th century itself; it flourished between the middle of the 15th and the middle of the 18th century.
The techniques of production in the new system were similar to those of the guild, but without the guild structure.
The family headed by the father or master and helped usually by its members and acquaintances worked the raw materials which the master himself had acquired, 'and sold the finished goods to the customers.
More often work was performed at home and usually the productive process became a family affair. In it craftsman was a domestic worker.
The worker was his own master although there was no abundance, there was spontaneity and freedom.
The worker in the putting-out system usually owned his tools which in all events were simple and inexpensive, perhaps a loom or two.
The only classes in the putting-out system were workers or entire families of workers, on the one hand; and merchant entrepreneur, on the other.
The two were related in a cash nexus, while the worker received wages from the merchant, the entrepreneur received the completed product from the worker.
The sole obligations of the merchant and the worker to each other were contractual.
As time went on, demand also increased and the domestic worker could not cope with this as he had only limited resources.
It was the entrepreneur who lent money, raw material and at times even the tools, received the products or tools themselves in mortgage or finally bought them, while the former master or worker continued to work on it as a salaried hand.
Thus, the transition from independent artisanship to proletariat, where the working man was permanently dispossessed of capital and could only dispose of his hands to work, was complete.

The domestic system of production had certain drawbacks.

It was extremely difficult to supervise the labour of scattered workers and there was great loss through waste and embezzlement
. Moreso, the labour supply was uncertain and shifting.
The putting-out system was often the product of economic desperation and, in turn, produced further economic deprivation.
The place of work was frequently an unhealthy cottage, with little sunshine and air.
The putting-out system often led to the merciless exploitation of women and children. Woman was to perform dual roles, of a housewife and also of a co- worker.
, the system proved to be a time consuming one.
The domestic system did not favour the acute division of labour and the introduction of new machinery.
Thus, it was almost impossible for the merchant to meet the ever increasing demand for goods.

The Factory System

Having failed to meet the growing demand for more goods, the guild and putting-out systems receded and gave way for a new system of production.
This new system is called the factory system. The Industrial Revolution, a term coined by Arnold Toynbee to describe the swift and far reaching changes in the economic and technological orders which took place in England from about 1770 to 1840, ushered in the present age of industrialism.

. Certain generally recognized causes and conditions that gave rise to the factory system may be listed as follows.

As early as sixteenth century an increasingly large and stable market for manufactured goods began to develop with the growth of purchasing power among certain groups and with the development of a money economy..
Once this system was established it offered ample opportunities for further increase in efficiency, productivity, and therefore, profit.
At the other end, there were guilds and domestic systems decaying internally and losing power externally which proved a favorable condition for the rise of factory system.
The factory system could not have been possible without the accumulation of wealth especially in the form of capital.
Favourable political conditions also played a role in the development of the factory system.

Features:

The new system is distinguished from the previous systems by some important features. They are:

Application of Mechanical Power:
Concentration of Productive Process:
Concentration of Wealth:
Formal Relations:

Chapter 3

Introduction

Industrial Sociology is closely related to work.
Work is the most central term denoting effort expanded to some end.
It is often synonymously used with occupation and sometimes with career
Industrial sociology is primarily concerned with the organizational aspect of work situation,
. All types of work that humanity has practiced may not face within the scope of Industrial sociology.
But, work, itself, as being the core of industry, is one of important subjects most genuinely treated in the sociology of industry.

What is work?

. A number of authors believe that it cannot be defined and still others say that it is not worthy of a definition. Yet, many have defined the concept work. .

Economists speak of work as one of the major factors of production consisting of manual and mental exertion for which wages, salaries or professional fees are received.

Definition

The concise Oxford Dictionary defines work as an "Expenditure of energy, striving, application of effort to something".

According to Raymond Firth, work is "an income producing activity or a purposeful activity entailing expenditure of energy at some sacrifice of pleasure or leisure".

According to Peter Worsley, According to him, it is "a special kind of activity clearly marked off from other activities in space and time".

Work in pre-industrial and Industrial Societies.

There are three important interlinked aspects that shed some light on the nature of work in pre-industrial and industrial societies.

They are separation of home and work, rationality and alienation.

Work and Home:
Rationality:
Alienation:

Kinds of works

Muscular work
Mental work

Role of Work in Society

Work, as is in other societies, is of central importance in industrial society.
It occupies a pivotal position because life centers around it, and sustenance of human life very much depends upon it.
Without work there can be no human society.

The following factors make clear the significance of work both for the individual and the society.

Work is the source of income and hence of the physical survival.
Work is important because it gives the worker identity and status in the society as a whole. Thus, the question what does he needs? a statement about the work that a person does, for e.g. professor, doctor, engineer, lawyer, etc.
. It gives the worker a sense of identity not just in the eyes of others but also in his own eyes. Though necessarily regarded by others as important, valuable or desirable, it remains a source of satisfaction for the worker.
Work, apart from providing economic security, helps to satisfy social and psychological needs, i.e., to maintain social bond, to feel secured, to be seen as significant persons.

Though work is a source of satisfaction, the extent to which it is so depends upon the kind of occupation. Berger suggests a threefold classification of work:

1)Jobs which provide some kind of self identification and satisfaction, for example, professional, craft and artistic occupations.

2)Jobs that pose direct threat to the person’s identity reducing him to the status of an "appendage to a machine".

3)Jobs which are of a neutral range which are neither a major source of identity nor a threat to one's personal identity. Such jobs are neither very hateful nor very pleasurable.

Though work is considered as a source of satisfaction, in actuality it need not be. Work may be simply seen as a means to an end.
The role that work plays in the life of many may easily be seen in the case of unemployment.
Loss of work is acknowledged by modern psychologists as a "Toxic condition".
This needs for its rehabilitation special social and psychological remedies. Permanent unemployment is sure threat to mental health.
It is believed that men work for the sake of money, either mostly or exclusively. ln a subsistence economy money is of paramount importance.
In fact, life depends on it. Here money keeps its importance as a motivating factor.
But when the situation improves and money becomes sufficient or abundant, then a quasi law of diminishing returns sets in.
CH. Ganguli's study of lowest paid workers of Calcutta reveals that opportunity for promotion was a factor which made job desirable.

Blue collar workers?

Blue collar is the term some refers as “working class”.
The term blue-collar is derived from 19th century uniform dress codes of industrial workplaces.
Industrial and manual workers wear durable clothing that can be soiled or scrapped at work.
A blue collar worker is differentiated form the white collar worker because he performs the manual labour. Blue collar workers may be skilled or unskilled and may involve factory work, building and construction, maintenance or technical installations.
The blue collar workers form an important part in the industrial organization.
. Rightly or wrongly, blue collar jobs may carry negative stereo type from the observation that they represent minimum ability.
The blue collar job can be defined as employee performing a type of work that often required a work uniform which may be blue in colour. Hence it is called Blue collar.
Workers range from skilled, semi skilled to unskilled employees.
They are not exempted from hour and wage loss and therefore must be paid overtime if they work more than the prescribed time.
A popular element of such a work cloth has been a light navy blue shirt.
The popularity of the colour blue among the workers who do manual work is the because of the type of the work they do.
It is against white dress people wear in office environment.
This difference in colour coding has been used to identify a difference in socio-economic class.
Some distinctive elements of blue collar workers are the lesser requirement for the formal academic education which is which is necessary for the white collar workers.

. Usually the pay of such occupation is lower than that of white collar workers. Sometimes the working conditions may be poor or hazardous.

White collar

The term 'white collar' was first used by Upton Sinclair in relation to modern clerical, administrative and management workers in the 1930s. Sinclair's usage is related to the fact that during most of the nineteenth and twentieth century male office workers in European and American countries almost always had to wear dress shirts, which had a collar and were usually white. Additionally, in the factory system of twentieth century English speaking countries, the color of overalls or coveralls indicated occupational status: blue for workers, brown for foremen, and white for professional staff such as engineers.

White collar workers are those engaged in so called tertiary industry which are neither extracting (such as mining, agriculture etc) nor processing,(like textiles or food canning) which are known respectively primary and secondary industry

They have a social status
Reluctant to join trade union
Monotony exists in their work
Formal relation
They have their own norms ( strict norms)