Images Of Industrial Society
Industrial society refers to a society driven by the use of technology and machinery to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a high capacity for division of labour. The transition from agrarian to industrial society, which began with the Industrial Revolution in 18th-century Britain, represents one of the most fundamental transformations in human history. This shift brought about new forms of work, new social classes, massive urbanization, and entirely new ways of living and thinking.
The classical sociologists—Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim—all grappled with understanding the nature of this new industrial society. Their differing perspectives provide us with powerful "images" or models for analysing its complexities.
The Marxist Image: Capitalism and Alienation
For Karl Marx, industrial society was synonymous with capitalism. He saw it primarily as a system defined by a new mode of production and a new class structure.
- Class Conflict: The core of this society was the irreconcilable conflict between the bourgeoisie (the owners of the factories and capital) and the proletariat (the industrial wage-workers).
- Alienation: Marx argued that industrial work was profoundly alienating. Unlike the artisan of the past who controlled their own work, the factory worker was separated from the product of their labour, the process of labour, their own creative potential, and their fellow human beings.
- Exploitation: The system was inherently exploitative, as the profit of the capitalist was derived from the 'surplus value' created by the unpaid labour of the worker.
The Weberian Image: Rationalization and the 'Iron Cage'
Max Weber viewed industrialism as part of a much broader historical process he called rationalization—the historical trend whereby social and economic life becomes increasingly organized according to the principles of efficiency, calculability, and logic.
- Bureaucracy: For Weber, the factory was a prime example of bureaucracy—the most rational and efficient form of human organization. It was characterized by a clear hierarchy, a detailed division of labour, and a set of formal, impersonal rules. - Disenchantment: While Weber recognized the efficiency of this rational system, he was also deeply pessimistic about its consequences. He feared that the spread of bureaucracy and rationality would lead to the 'disenchantment of the world', stripping it of emotion, tradition, and mystery. - The 'Iron Cage': He worried that humanity would become trapped in an "iron cage" of rationalized, bureaucratic control, where individual freedom and creativity would be crushed by impersonal rules and regulations.
The Durkheimian Image: Division of Labour and Anomie
Emile Durkheim focused on how industrial society could maintain social solidarity or cohesion, given the decline of traditional bonds of religion and community.
- Organic Solidarity: He argued that industrial society is held together by a new form of solidarity he called 'organic solidarity'. This is based on the economic interdependence that results from the highly specialized division of labour. We depend on countless others—farmers, factory workers, doctors—to meet our daily needs. - Anomie: However, Durkheim also saw the dangers of industrial society. He warned that the rapid change and the decline of traditional moral guidance could lead to a state of 'anomie', or normlessness, where individuals feel disconnected from society and lack a clear sense of purpose.
Industrialisation In India
The process of industrialisation in India followed a very different path from the one in Western Europe. It was not an organic, internal development but was initiated and shaped by the experience of British colonialism. This has given Indian industrialisation a specific and unique character.
The Specificity Of Indian Industrialisation
- De-industrialisation of Traditional Crafts: Before the British, India had a flourishing manufacturing sector, particularly in textiles. The colonial policy of flooding the Indian market with cheap, machine-made goods from Britain led to the ruin of these traditional handicraft industries. This process is known as de-industrialisation.
- Colonial Economic Interests: The modern industries that did develop under the British were largely geared towards the needs of the colonial economy. The focus was on sectors like jute, cotton, and railways, which facilitated the export of raw materials from India and the import of finished goods from Britain.
- Concentration in Port Cities: Unlike the widespread industrialisation of Britain, modern industry in India was heavily concentrated in a few port cities like Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta (now Kolkata), and Madras (now Chennai). The rest of the country remained largely agrarian.
- Role of Indian Capital: While much of the early industry was British-owned, a class of Indian merchants and traders, particularly from communities like the Parsis and Marwaris, also began to set up industries, especially in the cotton textile sector in Western India.
Industrialisation In The Early Years Of Indian Independence
After 1947, the newly independent Indian state embarked on a path of planned, state-led industrialisation. The government, under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, adopted a model of a 'mixed economy'.
- The Public Sector: The state took direct responsibility for developing heavy industries, which were seen as the foundation for economic self-reliance. This led to the creation of a large number of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in core sectors like steel, heavy machinery, and power. Nehru famously referred to these large industrial projects as the 'temples of modern India'.
- The Private Sector: The private sector was allowed to operate but was subject to a strict regime of licenses and regulations (often called the 'Licence Raj').
- Import Substitution: The overall policy was one of 'import substitution', which aimed to protect domestic industries from foreign competition by imposing high tariffs and restrictions on imported goods. The goal was to build a self-sufficient industrial base.
This state-led model guided India's industrial development for nearly four decades until the economic reforms of 1991.
Globalisation, Liberalisation And Changes In Indian Industry
In 1991, facing a severe economic crisis, the Indian government initiated a process of economic liberalisation, moving away from the state-led model and opening up the economy to market forces and globalisation. This has led to fundamental changes in Indian industry.
- End of the 'Licence Raj': The complex system of licenses required to start or expand an industry was largely dismantled, making it easier for the private sector to operate.
- Disinvestment: The government began a policy of disinvestment, which involves selling its shares in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to the private sector. This was done to raise funds and to improve the efficiency of these companies by bringing in private management.
- Opening to Foreign Investment: The economy was opened up to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), allowing multinational corporations (MNCs) to set up production facilities in India.
- Rise of the Service Sector: Liberalisation has been accompanied by a major structural shift in the Indian economy. While the growth in manufacturing has been modest, there has been a boom in the service sector, particularly in areas like Information Technology (IT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), telecommunications, and finance.
- Increased Competition: The entry of foreign companies and the easing of import restrictions have led to increased competition in the Indian market. While this has benefited consumers with a wider choice of goods and lower prices, it has also posed a major challenge to smaller domestic industries that find it difficult to compete with large MNCs.
These changes have integrated the Indian industrial economy more closely with the global economy, but they have also led to new forms of inequality and insecurity in the world of work.
How People Find Jobs
In a large and complex economy like India's, the process of finding employment varies significantly depending on the sector of the economy and the social background of the job-seeker. Broadly, we can distinguish between formal and informal methods of recruitment.
Formal Methods
These methods are more common for white-collar, professional, and skilled jobs in the formal or organized sector. They include:
- Advertisements: Companies advertise job vacancies in newspapers and, more commonly today, on online job portals like Naukri.com and LinkedIn. - Employment Exchanges: Government-run employment exchanges exist to register job-seekers and connect them with potential employers, although their effectiveness has declined over time. - Campus Recruitment: Companies visit professional colleges and universities to directly recruit students for jobs.
Informal Methods and the Importance of Social Networks
Despite the growth of formal methods, a vast number of jobs in India, especially in the informal sector, are still filled through informal channels. A key sociological insight is the crucial role of social networks in the job market.
Example 1. The Jobber/Contractor System
In many industries, like construction and textiles, a common method of recruitment is through a labour contractor or a 'jobber' (a figure from the past). This contractor is often from a particular village or region. When a factory or a construction site needs workers, the contractor will go back to his village and recruit people he knows, often from his own caste or kinship group. For the workers, the contractor is a trusted link to a job in the city. For the employer, the contractor provides a reliable supply of labour and acts as a disciplining agent. This shows how recruitment is embedded in social ties of caste, kinship, and region.
Example 2. 'Sifarish' or Recommendation
Even in the formal sector, getting a job often depends on 'sifarish' (recommendation) or personal contacts. Having a relative or a friend already working in a company can provide crucial information about job vacancies and a valuable recommendation to the employer. This highlights how access to social capital—the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society—can be as important as educational qualifications or skills in securing employment.
How Is Work Carried Out?
The way work is organized in modern industrial and service sector settings is fundamentally different from pre-industrial forms of work. The guiding principle of modern work organization is rationalization—the attempt to make work as efficient and predictable as possible. This involves breaking down the work process into smaller, specialized tasks and managing it through a system of rules and supervision.
Scientific Management (Taylorism)
An early and influential approach to rationalizing work was 'Scientific Management', developed by the American engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor. Often called Taylorism, this system involved:
- Breaking down a complex job into a series of simple, repetitive tasks. - Conducting 'time-and-motion' studies to find the single most efficient way to perform each task. - Separating the 'conception' of work (planning and design) from its 'execution'. Managers would do the thinking, and workers would simply execute the tasks they were given.
This system, and similar approaches like 'Fordism' (named after Henry Ford's assembly line), greatly increased industrial productivity. However, it also deskilled the worker and took away their autonomy, leading to monotonous and alienating work, as described by Marx.
Work Organization in the IT Sector
The modern IT and BPO sector in India also uses principles of rationalization to manage its work.
- Standardization: In a call centre, for example, the work is highly standardized. Employees are often given detailed scripts to follow when talking to customers.
- Monitoring: Work is constantly monitored. The duration of calls, the quality of the interaction, and the time spent between calls are all tracked electronically. This electronic surveillance is a modern form of managerial control.
While the setting is a modern office rather than a factory floor, the principle of breaking down work into manageable, controllable, and efficient tasks remains a central feature of how work is carried out.
Working Conditions
The working conditions in India vary dramatically between the formal (or organized) sector and the informal (or unorganized) sector. This division is one of the most important features of the Indian labour market.
The Formal/Organized Sector
The formal sector consists of jobs in the government, public sector undertakings, and large private sector companies. It accounts for only a small fraction of the total workforce in India (less than 10%). Work in this sector is characterized by:
- Job Security: Employment is regular and secure. - Regular Wages: Workers receive a fixed monthly salary. - Benefits: Workers are entitled to benefits like provident fund, pensions, health insurance, and paid leave. - Legal Protection: Working conditions are regulated by labour laws, and workers have the right to form trade unions.
The Informal/Unorganized Sector
The informal sector is vast and accounts for over 90% of the Indian workforce. It includes agricultural labourers, construction workers, domestic workers, street vendors, and workers in small-scale enterprises. Work in this sector is characterized by:
- Lack of Job Security: Employment is often temporary, seasonal, or casual. Workers can be hired and fired at will. - Low and Irregular Wages: Wages are low and often paid on a daily or piece-rate basis. - No Benefits: There is no provision for social security, health insurance, or paid leave. - Lack of Legal Protection: Workers are generally not covered by labour laws and have little or no ability to organize into unions. - Hazardous Conditions: Working conditions are often unsafe and unhealthy, particularly in sectors like construction and mining.
The policy of economic liberalization has, in many ways, led to an increase in the 'informalization' of the workforce, as even large companies in the formal sector are increasingly relying on temporary and contract labour to increase flexibility and cut costs.
Home-based Work
A significant but often invisible part of the informal economy is home-based work. This refers to work that is done within the home for an outside employer or contractor. The vast majority of home-based workers are women.
Examples of home-based work in India include:
- Rolling bidis (a type of hand-rolled cigarette) - Making lace or zari embroidery - Stitching garments - Assembling simple electronic components
The characteristics of home-based work are:
- Piece-rate Payment: Workers are not paid a wage but are paid per piece they produce. This often results in extremely low earnings.
- Invisibility: Because the work is done within the home, it is often not recognized as 'real' work. It becomes an extension of the woman's domestic chores.
- Exploitation: Home-based workers are at the bottom of the production chain. They have no direct contact with the main employer and are dependent on contractors who often exploit them. They have no bargaining power and no access to benefits or legal protections.
Home-based work is a clear example of how the informal economy and the gendered division of labour intersect to create a highly exploitative form of employment.
Strikes And Unions
In the context of industrial society, where the interests of management and workers are often in conflict, workers have historically relied on collective action to protect their rights and improve their conditions. The two main instruments of this collective action are trade unions and strikes.
Trade Unions
A trade union is an organization of workers that is formed to protect and further their rights and interests. The functions of a trade union include:
- Collective Bargaining: Negotiating with the management on behalf of the workers for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. - Protecting Workers: Representing workers in cases of disputes, unfair dismissal, or disciplinary action. - Political Action: Lobbying the government for pro-labour legislation.
In India, the trade union movement has historically been strong in the formal sector but has been fragmented due to its affiliation with different political parties.
Strikes
A strike is a form of collective protest in which workers stop working in order to force the management to accept their demands. It is the most powerful weapon that workers have. The decision to go on a strike involves shutting down production, which imposes a cost on the management. However, it also imposes a cost on the workers, who lose their wages for the duration of the strike. Therefore, a strike is usually a last resort when negotiations have failed.
Example: The Great Bombay Textile Strike of 1982
This was a landmark event in the history of the Indian labour movement. Over 2,50,000 workers in the textile mills of Bombay went on a strike led by the union leader Datta Samant. The strike lasted for nearly two years and was one of the longest and largest in Indian history. The main demands were for better wages and the recognition of Samant's union.
The strike ultimately failed. The mill owners refused to negotiate, the government did not intervene in favour of the workers, and the prolonged strike exhausted the workers' resources. The failure of the strike had a devastating impact. It led to the closure of most of the textile mills in Bombay, the loss of over a lakh jobs, and a permanent weakening of the trade union movement in the city. For many, this event marked the beginning of the end of the old, organized industrial working class in India and the shift towards a more informal and fragmented labour market.