Industrialism and Capitalism

- One Anglo-European form of pre-market society was feudalism or feudal society

- Feudalism is a disputed concept in history because of variation within general pattern- Difficult to point to consistent, concrete patterns that typify a feudal system (but it is still a widely used concept)
- Economic production and distribution is ruled by TRADITION.- Agricultural base = peasant farming- System of production organized around self sufficient manors- Produce for family and local manor, not for market- Low levels of technological advance- tools made on the manor, not bought- Cities are center of consumption not production (urban was peripheral to society, serfs/peasants cannot easily move locations)- Relations of production were direct and coercive

An economic system characterized by exploitative social relations of production- Private ownership of productive property --> Means of production privately owned --> Labor bought and sold as a commodity --> Labor is the only commodity that adds "surplus value"

- Everything has a price (death, air rights, pollution etc)

- Property defined as something we can own (right to benefits from property, ability to sell or transfer, right of privacy/exclusion)

- Compelled to work for your own self-interest- Must produce something (labor, product) that someone else wants

- Existence of labor market on which to buy and sell labor power- Labor a commodity like any other (although for Marx it can produce surplus value, therefore is a distinctive commodity)

- Rise of limited liability firms

- An important feature of capitalist solution to economic problem is competition- Competition involves winning and losing (drive to keep up with competitors, or go bankrupt)- Falling rate of profit as competition plays out

1) Cut input costs: find cheaper labor, find cheaper raw materials, introduce technological innovations 2) Promote sales: find new markets and advertise (increase demand)
ADVANTAGE GOES TO LARGER FIRM. They can take advantage of the economies of scale, and have more money to invest in technological innovation, to search for new products and markets. They also have more money to invest in advertising

He created a fundamental division in capitalist society based on social relations; owners are profit seeking and workers are employment seeking.
He stated that there were two classes 1) Proletarians, who sell their labor power and 2) Capitalists, who buy the labor power and own the "means" of production

Two core features of industrial society:1) Use of inanimate energy sources in production (fossil fuels, labor-saving machinery)2) Close proximity of workers/machinery in factory setting

- More social mobility, greater fluidity- From ascription to achievement

- Accommodation of differences between social classes- Industrialized bargaining over collective agreements, labor relations codes- Citizenship rights widen (vote, welfare)

- Universal suffrage (women, visible minorities)- Pluralist perspective dominates (set of competing groups competing for power)