This blog post examines how the Industrial Revolution dismantled traditional communities and led to the alienation of individuals. We explore the changes in social structure and their impacts in detail.

The Industrial Revolution that occurred in Britain around the 1760s

Around the 1760s in Britain, technological innovation was accompanied by a transformation of social and economic structures. We call this the Industrial Revolution, and it spread from Britain to the United States, Russia, and beyond. It later expanded to various countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, and elsewhere. There were several reasons why the Industrial Revolution began in multiple places.
First, the Enclosure Movement in Britain saw landlords and the government seize agricultural land. This forced peasants into cities, leading to urbanization. This urbanization profoundly impacted Britain’s economic and social structure. Farmers, who had previously depended on subsistence agriculture, moved to cities and had to seek new forms of labor. This resulted in the formation of a new working class. These changes became a crucial foundation for subsequent economic growth and technological development.
Furthermore, the invention of a new type of steam engine led to the use of coke instead of coal as a power source. This increased energy efficiency, laying the groundwork for mass production and export. Furthermore, intellectuals, aristocrats, and capitalists from various fields established societies to communicate, aiming to quickly apply technologies or capital that would benefit them to society. The convergence of these individuals’ activities and the aforementioned background conditions enabled the Industrial Revolution to begin.
The impact of the Industrial Revolution was not confined to Britain alone. Technological innovations and new economic structures rapidly spread worldwide, drawing other nations like the United States and Russia into this transformation. In the United States, large-scale factories were built and new transportation systems like railroads were introduced, driving rapid industrialization. Russia also gradually industrialized, though its pace and scope were somewhat slower compared to the West. Ultimately, however, these nations too were profoundly affected by the Industrial Revolution, leading to significant changes in their social and economic structures.

Changes Brought by the Industrial Revolution: The Decline of Traditional Agriculture

First, the Industrial Revolution influenced the decline of traditional agriculture. Original traditional farming depended on nature’s time and the cycles of organic growth. However, the introduction of machinery into factories enabled mass production unaffected by the sun or seasons. Consequently, traditional agriculture declined and was replaced by modern industry. Consequently, a way of life emerged where people lived according to factory schedules. The government mandated adherence to Greenwich Mean Time, forcing people to live by the clock rather than the rising and setting of the sun.
The Industrial Revolution not only spread the timetable system but also brought about various changes in human society. It triggered a social revolution where the family and local community collapsed, replaced by the nation and the market. As historian Yuval Noah Harari mentions in Chapter 18, “The Collapse of Family and Community,” of his book Sapiens, the Industrial Revolution shattered the family and community—the fundamental units of all human societies—in just over two centuries. Harari defines a community as a group of people who know each other well and depend on one another for survival.

Social Revolution: The Shift from Community to State and Market

From the beginning, humanity lived within three frameworks: the nuclear family, the extended family, and the intimate local community. This structure remained largely unchanged even after the Cognitive Revolution and the Agricultural Revolution. Communities helped each other without expecting anything in return, and local issues were resolved within the local community. Kingdoms and empires existed, with kings ruling in some cases, but most often, as in the Ottoman Empire, the king delegated his most basic privileges to the community, allowing it to resolve matters internally. Consequently, community cohesion was strong; society operated through the care of family and community, and people followed this model.
Consequently, people before the mid-18th century lived in groups, producing food, clothing, and shelter for themselves, resolving issues within their communities, and living through exchange when necessary. However, over the past two centuries, starting with the Industrial Revolution, the previous communal way of life transformed into a different form. The Industrial Revolution infused immense new power into markets and provided nations with new means of communication and transportation. Governments established systems to protect and manage individuals within communities, employing teachers, police, and social workers. Institutions like courts, parliaments, and banks were created, shifting the resolution of issues—previously handled by community elders—to state-appointed officials within state-created institutions. Building on this foundation, the state and market weakened the cohesion of the community. Yet they provided us with food, housing, education, healthcare, welfare, and employment, while enabling us to secure pensions and insurance. This allowed every individual to live protected, even without belonging to a community. Thus, while it resolved the problems caused by the coercion of pre-industrial communities, the result was that the meaning and necessity of the community gradually faded, leading to its collapse.

The Collapse of Community and Its Price: Individual Alienation

Tax authorities, courts, and other state institutions treat us as individuals. Accordingly, the modern state defines people as individuals who can enjoy economic and legal rights independently of community. However, this liberation of the individual comes at a price: the sorrow of losing family and community, and the individual’s sense of alienation stemming from the influence of the state and market on our lives. While living in groups before the Industrial Revolution may have had its dysfunctions, the positive functions—such as cohesion, unity, and intimacy among community members—played a greater role. However, as the unit of modern society shifted to the individual, we began to feel a sense of alienation, often not belonging anywhere. This provided the state and the market with greater scope to intervene more easily in the lives of its members.

The Meaning of Social Change Brought by the Industrial Revolution

Following the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century, science and technology advanced, and our way of life changed noticeably. However, the Industrial Revolution impacted not only science and technology but also society, manifesting as the breakdown of families and local communities, replaced by the state and the market. While the state provided welfare services like civil servants, teachers, and police, addressing issues previously handled by communities, it simultaneously eroded the necessity and meaning of community, weakening cohesion and contributing to individuals’ feelings of alienation. Therefore, while the breakdown of community offers personal benefits, its problems significantly impact our lives. Rather than uncritically accepting this breakdown, we must cultivate a critical perspective.
Even today, the nuclear family exists in modern society. While the state and market have taken over economic and political roles, the emotional aspects they cannot provide are supplied by the modern family. However, even this is increasingly being intervened in. For example, marriage, which was once arranged by families acting as matchmakers, is now manipulated and controlled by market forces like marriage agencies. Moreover, issues within family relationships, once resolved within the community, are now handled by the state when child abuse occurs. In this way, the future will likely see even more diverse forms of intervention. We must be vigilant about whether problems stemming from the breakdown of community, such as individual alienation, are increasing, and we must contemplate countermeasures for these issues.