Social and economic effects of industrialization

1. Positive effects of
industrialization
Industrialisation is normally associated with
advanced technology.
People who live in industrialising countries have
an opportunity to get education and training.
They also acquire new skills from their
colleagues at work. Generally, the population of
that particular country is exposed to new ideas
and ways of doing things as foreigners are
attracted into the country.
Remember that when people are exposed to a
wide variety of goods and services, their quality
of life also improves and their basic needs are
fully met.

2. Negative effects of
industrialisation
Industrialisation tends to occur in urban areas. This is
so because all the requirements it needs, such as
infrastructure and market, are mostly found in towns.
A lot of people from rural areas and other places flock
into urban areas with the hope of getting employment.
This may lead to over-crowding which results in
problems like shortage of social facilities, rise in crime
rate, poor sanitation and many other undesirable
things.

3. Negative effects of
industrialisation cont.
The arrival of foreign labour and technology leads to introduction of
foreign culture. The traditional or local culture (language, religion
and other factors) is affected.
For example, in the past Batswana used to believe in their ancestors
(Badimo), but the advent of industrialisation and other
economic forces have led to the disappearance of this
traditional religion.
Learner, have you also observed that the people who live in urban
areas, especially young generations, feel very comfortable speaking
English.
This is because English is used as an official language in Botswana,
therefore, it is used for communication so that non-Tswana speakers
in such areas can also understand what is being spoken.
This spoken English is promoted by modern education and the
media such as newspapers, radio, television, magazines and others.
Young people are giving more attention to English than to their
mother tongue.

4. Negative effects of
industrialisation cont.
I believe you have also realised that an increase of
modern industries may cause family breakdown.
The able-bodied or the active group leave their
families in rural areas to go and seek better
opportunities in urban areas or towns and some of
them never come back.
Men who are mostly attracted by this industrialisation
may find new partners at their work places and forget
about their wives and children back home in the rural
areas.
This has led to families breaking down and
mushrooming of female-headed families.

5. Negative effects of
industrialisation cont.
Some people have brought assertion that division of
labour and specialisation breed boredom and lack of
craftsmanship.
This is because one cannot have pride in
the product that he or she has produced because
it may have been done by many people.
When a person performs one task every day every
time, that person may get bored.
Therefore, those particular people get stressed and
tend to dislike their work.

6. Positive economic effects of
industrialisation
Establishment of modern industries is associated with mass
production and an increase in the provision of goods and services.
Therefore, this promotes economic development and increase of the
Gross National Product of the country.
When there is mass production, the prices of goods normally go
down and the consumers are able to buy a variety of goods at
affordable prices.
New efficient goods are introduced into the country, for instance,
production of electrical appliances such as televisions, vacuum
cleaners and many others.
An increase in the percentage of customers who can afford to buy
these electrical appliances shows that there is economic
development taking place.

7. Positive economic effects of
industrialisation cont.
Learner, you must also understand that when a country
has its own industries, it is more sell-reliant and does
not rely or depend on other countries for many things.
For example, South Africa is regarded as one of the
richest countries in Africa because it is industrialised.
This country produces a lot of products locally and buys
very few products from other countries.
Some of its industries are mining which is promoted by
a wide variety of minerals.
Agriculture is also advanced due to favourable climatic
conditions and good soils. Other sectors doing well are
tourism and manufacturing industries.

8. Positive economic effects of
industrialisation cont.
I hope you have realised that industrialisation creates employment. One
of the few well known effects is that industrialisation leads to employment
of citizens.
As more industries arc established more and more people get
employment. The income from industries also contributes to the general
development of the country.
You know that the arrival of any new construction company or industry
attracts unemployed locals even when posts have not been advertised.
Employment applications are delivered every day at the factories and
those who qualify are hired depending on the availability of
vacancies.
Modern industries need different levels of skills in order to carry out the
production processes.
Therefore, different types of labourers are employed such as unskilled,
semi-skilled and skilled ones.

9. Positive economic effects of
industrialisation cont.
Industrialisation is set up in order to raise money for
further investment.
Bear in your mind that the main aim of these modem
industries is to make profit. As such, the surplus that
they get is used for the expansion of the business.
Small industries usually expand into very large
industries by investing their surplus.
Multi-national companies which originate from very
rich countries have expanded to the extent that they
even set up their businesses Mother countries and
continents.

10. Negative economic effects
of industrialisation
Industrialisation may cause unfair distribution of
resources.
At times people become greedy and forget about
other people's welfare.
This problem is more common in capitalist states
than in planned economies.
Very few people accumulate wealth for themselves
while the majority live in poverty.
The businessmen may increase the prices of goods
without considering people's wealth.

11. Negative economic effects
of industrialisation cont.
Agriculture and craft production may be neglected as a result of
industrialisation.
Remember that before the introduction of modem industries people
depended on agriculture.
They grew crops, reared animals and produced craft goods. Since
the able-bodied people carried out the farming, there was self-
sufficiency in food.
Agriculture, which was left in the hands of the old and younger
people, went down or declined as they could not produce enough
for themselves.
Able-bodied people migrate to towns and cities where industries are
mostly located.
There are also the environmental effects of industrialisation which we
will learn about now.

12. Effects of Industrialisation on
the Environment
There are different types of pollution which are caused by industries
including air, water and land pollution.
The emission of industrial substances poses danger to living things
including plants.
Air pollution is the most dangerous because it does not know territorial and
continental boundaries.
For instance, industrial pollutants emitted by industrialised countries in the
Europe can actually affect other places which are thousands of miles away.
This has led to the depletion of the ozone layer and adverse changes in the
climatic conditions. Industrial fumes can also pollute the environment be it in
developed or in developing countries
As if this does not do a lot of harm already. there is yet again massive
degradation of the natural ecosystem in general. For instance, water sources
in a number of places are polluted by industrial refuse.

13. The reckless use of
natural resources
Another effect of industrialisation worth noting is the
reckless use of
natural resources. Industrialisation over-uses and
depletes natural resources which are non-
renewable. You know very well that natural resources
are scarce and unevenly distributed in our
country. These scarce resources are, however, used
for production of most of the goods we
consume. For example, fossil fuels such as gas,
crude oil and coal are used on a daily basis in
most industries. Other non-
renewable resources are minerals which need
to be used in a sustainable way. Non-
renewable resources are those that can never be
replaced once used.

14. Overcrowding
Industrialisation also gives rise to overcrowding. Modern
industries are usually located in towns and cities because
this is where infrastructure is well developed.
The existence of these industries causes overcrowding
as a lot of people move into urban areas in search of
employment opportunities and other services that
are normally lacking in rural areas.
This overcrowding is associated with environmental
problems such as poor housing which often leads to
mushrooming of shanty towns, bad sanitation which is
caused by poor disposal of rubbish, and lack of hygiene
which may result in diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria,
cholera and others.