The New Industrial society

The Industrial Revolution provoked substantial changes in the social stratification, since there would no longer be strata , but social classes based on money. It was not such a closed society as before, since people’s class could change if their personal situation changed (although it was extremely rare). Theoretically everybody was equal under the law, with no privileges for any group.

Although there were few in number, the bourgeoisie became the ruling class , especially the high bourgeoisie or grand bourgeoisie, they have the political and economic power. Their ideas were the ideas of the liberalism: commercial rights and ownership of property but also personal and civil liberties for everybody (even working classes but with some limits) and religious rights.

Bourgeoisie can be divided into three levels.

• High bourgeoisie or grande bourgeoisie. They are the owners of the big corporations and banks. They are very wealthy, they live in big townhouses or countryside palaces. Most of them are related to nobility by marriage.
• Upper middle class or moyenne bourgeoisie. They are less wealthy than the high bourgeoisie. They own little business, not big corporations.
• Middle class or pettite bourgeoisie. More than owners they are professionals such as lawyers, doctors, small merchants, shop owners, and white collar workers as well. They share the political points of view of the other two groups however, they are closer, economically speaking, to proletariat.

The proletariat or working class was another new group that appeared during the Industrial Revolution:

• It was composed of all those people who moved from the countryside to towns to work in the factories.
• Their living conditions were very hard, since they lived in buildings with no ventilation or hygienic conditions.
• They worked around 14 or 16 hours per day for a very low wage.
• There were no regulation concerning the dismissal of workers.
• They did not have any protection against illnesses and did not receive any wage when they retired.
• They did not have any right to strike or to protest.
• Women and children also worked, but their wage was even lower than men’s.

 Pyramid of Capitalist System public domain