According to Marx, history evolves through the interaction between the mode of production and the relations of production. The mode of production constantly evolves toward a realization of its fullest productive capacity, but this evolution creates a discord between the classes of people defined by the relations of production; owners and workers. He lived during a period of very high inequalities and poor working conditions; indeed he was alive to witness the industrial revolution. What was the role of capital and labour in the context of the British industrial revolution and what were the social changes and injustice involved?
The era known as the Industrial Revolution, the end of the 18th century to halfway through the 19th century, was a period in which fundamental changes happened in various domains: agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and even the social structure in England. Before the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing was often done at home, using hand tools or very basic, primary machines. Industrialization marked a passage to powered, specialized machinery, factories and mass production. The iron and textile industries, along with the development of the steam engine, played very important roles in the Industrial Revolution, as did systems
…show more content…
You were born poor and died poor as the salary you earned in the factories was far from sufficient to invest in any means of production. The Industrial Revolution was a time of accumulation of poverty, inequalities, oppressions and absence of elementary human rights which led to many people’s hatred for capitalism and belief in communism and socialism. The industrial revolution was a time when workers were alienated, not even feeling like human beings anymore but merely a pair of