What changes were brought about by the industrial revolution in the habits and thoughts of the people?
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How did the Industrial Revolution affect people in how they worked and how they conducted business? A detailed answer.
How did the Industrial Revolution affect people in how they worked and how they conducted business? A detailed answer.
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TIMBRADY eNotes educator| CERTIFIED EDUCATOR
In addition to what has been said, I would add that the workers and their work became more "alienated." Workers used to create a product from start to finish and then market/trade their product, often with someone who also created something from "scratch." As the means of production came to controlled by fewer and fewer people (capitalists), many workers never saw what they produced; they contribued some small part to manufacturing (think of the workers on the auto assembly line), but never "created" something. They were often exploited (after all, the work they did was so "mechanical" that they could be easily replaced), and their "interchangeability" made them fear for their jobs.
Perhaps as bad, workers came to see their co-workers not as partners in production, but as threats to their job/advancement. In addition, the repetitive nature of the work was deadly to the spirit of the worker (it's interesting that Ford modeled his moving "belt" on when he saw the workers at a meat packing plant in Chicago, where the meat "came" to the works ... sort of a "disassembly" line). He actually had an expert "time" each movements that workers made and set up performance standards for them that were much more interesting in profit than the workers.