Industrial society

In <a href="/facts/Sociology/d2Fd0N87">sociology</a>, an industrial society is a society driven by the use of <a href="/facts/Technology/9Uav5WVR">technology</a> and <a href="/facts/Machinery/wTCxFRfs">machinery</a> to enable <a href="/facts/Mass_production/31Cmgjuc">mass production</a>, supporting a <a href="/facts/Population_growth/oxb6ttX0">large population</a> with a high capacity for <a href="/facts/Division_of_labour/eA9MVGzB">division of labour</a>. Such a structure developed in the <a href="/facts/Western_world/UQl4e7du">Western world</a> in the period of time following the <a href="/facts/Industrial_Revolution/B6E3Fasm">Industrial Revolution</a>, and replaced the <a href="/facts/Agrarian_society/hW5Bwt9R">agrarian societies</a> of the <a href="/facts/Modern_history/uB3yXt4H">pre-modern</a>, <a href="/facts/Pre-industrial_society/hzEubtAQ">pre-industrial</a> age. Industrial societies are generally <a href="/facts/Mass_society/2PYphUgb">mass societies</a>, and may be succeeded by an <a href="/facts/Information_society/VloF2lNd">information society</a>. They are often contrasted with <a href="/facts/Traditional_society/d9Luu8aM">traditional societies</a>.
<a href="/facts/Industrialization/h3QXzS6C">Industrial</a> societies use external energy sources, such as <a href="/facts/Fossil_fuels/BPgxAqB7">fossil fuels</a>, to increase the rate and scale of production. The production of food is shifted to large commercial farms where the products of industry, such as <a href="/facts/Combine_harvesters/g28hasTJ">combine harvesters</a> and fossil fuel–based <a href="/facts/Fertilizers/ysh3r6NJ">fertilizers</a>, are used to decrease required human labor while increasing production. No longer needed for the production of food, excess labor is moved into these <a href="/facts/Factories/GPIW0snN">factories</a> where <a href="/facts/Mechanization/7rWqaHvX">mechanization</a> is utilized to further increase efficiency. As populations grow, and <a href="/facts/Mechanization/7rWqaHvX">mechanization</a> is further refined, often to the level of <a href="/facts/Automation/3YlF2K5q">automation</a>, many workers shift to expanding <a href="/facts/Service_industries/xTfyF8rL">service industries</a>.
Industrial society makes <a href="/facts/Urbanization/GQq0oqft">urbanization</a> desirable, in part so that workers can be closer to centers of production, and the <a href="/facts/Service_industry/IbtKqotL">service industry</a> can provide labor to workers and those that benefit financially from them, in exchange for a piece of production profits with which they can buy goods. This leads to the rise of very large cities and surrounding <a href="/facts/Suburb/8Nv6KVJr">suburb</a> areas with a high rate of <a href="/facts/Economic_activity/HYctA2Dn">economic activity</a>.
These <a href="/facts/Urban_area/fu9v8h5P">urban centers</a> require the input of external energy sources in order to overcome the <a href="/facts/Diminishing_returns/YNwQIqtK">diminishing returns</a> of agricultural consolidation, due partially to the lack of nearby <a href="/facts/Arable_land/pTSyNmdg">arable land</a>, associated transportation and storage costs, and are otherwise unsustainable. This makes the reliable availability of the needed energy resources high priority in industrial government policies.

Industrial society open-in-new

Industrial society