Class 12 Sociology Notes Chapter 5 (Change and development in industrial society) – Social Change and Development in India Book

Alright class, let's delve into Chapter 5: 'Change and Development in Industrial Society'. This is a crucial chapter as it explains the transition India underwent and the nature of work and life in an industrial setup, which has significant implications for social structure and individual lives. Pay close attention, as these concepts frequently appear in various government examinations.

Chapter 5: Change and Development in Industrial Society - Detailed Notes

1. Introduction: What is Industrial Society?

• Definition: Industrialisation refers to the emergence of machine production, based on the use of inanimate power resources (like steam or electricity).
• Contrast with Pre-Industrial Societies: Primarily agrarian, based on land, kinship, and traditional authority. Industrial societies are characterised by factory production, wage labour, market exchange, and often, urban living.
• Key Features of Industrial Work:
  • Mass Production: Large-scale production of standardised goods.
  • Division of Labour: Specialisation of work tasks, where individuals perform specific, repetitive actions.
  • Wage Labour: Workers sell their labour power for wages.
  • Workplace Separation: Work typically occurs in factories or offices, separate from the home.
  • Time Discipline: Work is organised around clock time, demanding punctuality and adherence to schedules.
  • Bureaucratic Organisation: Hierarchical structures, rules, and regulations govern the workplace.

2. Sociological Perspectives on Industrial Society

• Karl Marx:
  • Viewed industrialisation as a stage in the development of capitalism.
  • Focused on the conflict between the bourgeoisie (owners of means of production - factories, machines) and the proletariat (workers who sell their labour).
  • Highlighted alienation – workers feeling disconnected from the product of their labour, the production process, fellow workers, and their own human potential.
• Max Weber:
  • Focused on rationalisation as the key characteristic of modern industrial society.
  • Emphasised the growth of bureaucracy, efficiency, calculation, and the decline of traditional ways of thinking ('disenchantment of the world').
  • Saw industrial capitalism as one outcome of a broader process of rationalisation.
• Emile Durkheim:
  • Focused on the division of labour and its consequences for social solidarity.
  • Distinguished between mechanical solidarity (based on similarity, found in traditional societies) and organic solidarity (based on interdependence due to specialisation, found in industrial societies).
  • Warned of anomie – a state of normlessness where social norms are weak or conflicting, potentially arising during rapid social change like industrialisation.

3. Industrialisation in India: Historical Context

• Colonial Period:
  • India experienced deindustrialisation in some sectors (like textiles) due to competition from British manufactured goods.
  • Simultaneously, colonial industrialisation was selective and geared towards British interests.
  • Key industries established: Cotton textiles (Bombay, Ahmedabad), Jute mills (Calcutta), Coal mining, Railways.
  • This industrialisation was spatially concentrated and didn't lead to broad-based development. It often displaced traditional artisans.
• Post-Independence Period:
  • India adopted a path of planned development with a focus on building a strong industrial base.
  • Emphasis on heavy industries and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under the Nehruvian model (Mixed Economy).
  • Goal: Self-reliance, import substitution, and equitable growth.
  • Liberalisation (Post-1991): Shift towards market-oriented policies, privatisation of PSUs, opening up to foreign investment, leading to significant changes in the industrial landscape and employment patterns.

4. How People Find Jobs

• Early Methods:
  • Jobbers/Mistris/Sardars: Powerful intermediaries who recruited workers, often from their own villages or communities. They controlled hiring, finances, and sometimes even housing, leading to potential exploitation.
  • Social Networks: Kinship, caste, and regional ties played a crucial role in accessing job information and securing employment.
• Later/Formal Methods:
  • Advertisements, employment exchanges, direct recruitment by companies became more common, especially in larger, organised sector firms.
  • However, informal networks continue to be important, particularly in the unorganised sector.

5. How Work is Carried Out: The Factory System

• Control over Workers: Industrial work requires discipline and control over the workforce.
• Taylorism (Scientific Management): Developed by F.W. Taylor. Aimed to increase efficiency by breaking down work into small, repetitive tasks, timing each task, and prescribing the exact method ('one best way'). Led to deskilling and increased management control.
• Assembly Line (Fordism): Perfected by Henry Ford. Workers remain stationary while the product moves along a conveyor belt. Each worker performs a single, repetitive task. Increased production speed but also monotony and alienation.
• Working Time: Shift from task-oriented time (common in agriculture) to clock time. Emphasis on punctuality, fixed working hours, and overtime.

6. Working Conditions

• Historical Issues: Early industrialisation (both in the West and India) was marked by:
  • Long working hours (12-16 hours/day).
  • Low wages.
  • Poor safety conditions, leading to frequent accidents.
  • Lack of job security.
  • Use of child labour.
• Improvements: Achieved through worker struggles, trade union action, and government legislation (e.g., Factories Act).
• Contemporary Issues:
  • Informalisation/Contractualisation: Increase in temporary, contract-based work with fewer benefits and less security, often outsourced.
  • Precarious Work: Jobs characterised by uncertainty, low income, and lack of protection.
  • Occupational Hazards: Still prevalent, especially in mining, construction, and chemical industries.
  • Service Sector Issues: While different from factory work, issues like long hours, stress, and monitoring exist (e.g., call centres).

7. Home-Based Work

• Definition: Work carried out within the home, often on a piece-rate basis, as part of a larger production chain.
• Characteristics:
  • Predominantly involves women and children.
  • Low wages, based on output (piece-rate).
  • Invisible labour, often not recognised as 'work'.
  • Lack of regulation, benefits, and worker protection.
  • Blurred lines between work and domestic life.
• Examples: Bidi making, agarbatti rolling, lace making, zari work, carpet weaving, assembling electronic components.

8. Industrialisation and Urbanisation

• Industrialisation is a major driver of urbanisation, as factories attract workers seeking employment, leading to the growth of towns and cities.
• This often leads to overcrowding, development of slums, and pressure on urban infrastructure (water, sanitation, housing, transport).

9. Strikes and Unions

• Workers' Resistance: Workers collectively resist exploitation and poor conditions through various means, most notably strikes.
• Trade Unions: Formal organisations of workers formed to protect and promote their interests (wages, working conditions, job security) through collective bargaining and action.
• Legal Framework: Trade Unions Act, 1926, provided legal recognition to trade unions in India.
• Historical Significance: Unions played a vital role in improving workers' lives and participating in the nationalist movement.
• Major Strikes: E.g., The Bombay Textile Strike of 1982, led by Datta Samant, was one of the largest and longest strikes, highlighting worker grievances but ultimately leading to the decline of the textile mills in Mumbai.
• Contemporary Trends: Decline in union membership and power in the organised sector due to liberalisation, contractualisation, and fragmentation of the workforce. However, new forms of organising are emerging in the informal sector.

10. Impact of Globalisation and Liberalisation

• Disinvestment: Government selling its stake in PSUs.
• Voluntary Retirement Schemes (VRS): Offered to reduce workforce in PSUs and private companies.
• Rise of Contract Labour: Companies prefer hiring temporary/contract workers to reduce costs and liabilities.
• Increased Insecurity: Greater job insecurity for workers, even in the formal sector.
• Weakening of Unions: Reduced bargaining power of traditional trade unions.
• Growth of Service Sector: Significant employment growth in IT, finance, telecom, etc., but often with its own set of work pressures.

Conclusion: Industrialisation has fundamentally reshaped Indian society, bringing economic growth but also creating new forms of work, social structures, inequalities, and challenges. Understanding these processes is key to analysing contemporary social change and development in India.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. According to Karl Marx, the primary source of conflict in an industrial capitalist society is between:
   a) Skilled and unskilled workers
   b) Agricultural and industrial workers
   c) Bourgeoisie and Proletariat
   d) Different ethnic groups

2. Max Weber associated modern industrial society primarily with the process of:
   a) Alienation
   b) Rationalisation and Bureaucracy
   c) Organic Solidarity
   d) Class Struggle

3. The term 'Anomie', used by Emile Durkheim, refers to:
   a) A state of strong social integration
   b) A feeling of connection to one's work
   c) A state of normlessness or breakdown of social norms
   d) The collective conscience of society

4. In the context of early industrial recruitment in India, 'Jobbers' or 'Mistris' were:
   a) Government employment officers
   b) Skilled technical experts in factories
   c) Intermediaries who recruited and controlled labour
   d) Leaders of trade unions

5. 'Taylorism' or 'Scientific Management' primarily aimed to:
   a) Improve worker safety and welfare
   b) Encourage worker creativity and autonomy
   c) Increase factory efficiency through task analysis and control
   d) Promote collective bargaining between workers and management

6. Which of the following is a key characteristic of home-based work in India, as discussed in the chapter?
   a) High wages and job security
   b) Predominantly done by men in urban areas
   c) Payment based on piece-rate, often involving women and children
   d) Strong trade union representation

7. The Bombay Textile Strike of 1982 is significant because:
   a) It led to the nationalisation of textile mills.
   b) It was one of the longest and largest strikes in Indian history, marking a turning point for Mumbai's mills.
   c) It resulted in the immediate implementation of all worker demands.
   d) It was led directly by the government.

8. Post-1991 economic liberalisation in India has generally led to:
   a) Strengthening of permanent employment in the organised sector
   b) An increase in contract-based and informal work
   c) A significant rise in the power of traditional trade unions
   d) Decreased foreign investment in Indian industries

9. Which industries were central to the early phase of colonial industrialisation in India?
   a) Software and Information Technology
   b) Automobiles and Heavy Engineering
   c) Cotton, Jute, Railways, and Coal
   d) Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals

10. The separation of work from home is a defining feature of:
    a) Traditional agrarian societies
    b) Hunter-gatherer societies
    c) Industrial societies
    d) Feudal societies

Answer Key:

1. c) Bourgeoisie and Proletariat
2. b) Rationalisation and Bureaucracy
3. c) A state of normlessness or breakdown of social norms
4. c) Intermediaries who recruited and controlled labour
5. c) Increase factory efficiency through task analysis and control
6. c) Payment based on piece-rate, often involving women and children
7. b) It was one of the longest and largest strikes in Indian history, marking a turning point for Mumbai's mills.
8. b) An increase in contract-based and informal work
9. c) Cotton, Jute, Railways, and Coal
10. c) Industrial societies

Make sure you revise these notes thoroughly. Understanding the historical context, the sociological perspectives, and the changing nature of work is essential. Good luck with your preparation!