Social Changes Between 1780-1914

The sociological environment of Britain, France, and Germany changed drastically between 1780 and 1914. Way of life in an agricultural setting was beginning to shift as industrialization, urbanization, and democratization were introduced. The introduction of these systems paved way for a rise in socialism, a change in religion, and growth in science. Together, these six social conditions influenced the great minds of French sociologist Émile Durkheim, German philosopher Karl Marx, and German economist Max Weber among others. The British Industrial Revolution was the first to emerge between 1780 and 1830, followed by Germany and France (Bratton and Denham 2014: 26). Capitalists used the industrial revolution to accumulate profit by taking advantage of technological advances in the factory system, implementing it into machinery to maximize production. (Nakhaie 2016: Jan 19). Karl Marx viewed industrialization in terms of capitalists using it to have total control over the quality and quantity of product (Bratton and Denham 2014: 27). Marx, however, states that industrialization created opportunity, but not without consequences. Capitalist control over product empowered the rich, or bourgeoisie, over the working class, or proletariats (Nakhaie 2016: Jan …show more content…
Weber discusses the Protestant Reformation, which was a shift from traditional irrational values to rational modern value systems. Marx argued that religion controlled people too much, whereas Durkheim argued that religion helps develop moral values. This movement to a rational modern value system introduced modern scientific methods. The growth of science allowed for a more rational pursuit of truth, opposing religious explanations. The age of enlightenment included Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith explaining phenomenon by shying away from religious explanations (Nakhaie 2016: Jan