The transformation of an economy from primarily agricultural to one based on manufacturing and mechanized production. This process fundamentally altered society, creating urban centers, new social classes, and modern economic systems.
From Latin 'industria' (diligence, activity) through French 'industriel,' with the suffix '-ization' added in the 19th century. The concept evolved from describing individual diligence to encompassing the systematic mechanization of entire societies during the Industrial Revolution.
Industrialization created the modern world in just 150 years - before 1800, 90% of humans were farmers, but by 1900, entire cities existed that produced no food at all! The speed was so dramatic that people went from never seeing a machine to working in factories with hundreds of them within a single lifetime, completely transforming human experience.
Industrialization narratives center male factory workers and engineers; women's labor (textile mills, domestic service, reproductive work) was rendered invisible or devalued. Industrial progress mythology excluded women's roles in sustaining and resisting labor systems.
When discussing industrialization, explicitly name women's participation in manufacturing, labor organizing, and strike action. Avoid narratives that treat factories as male domains.
Women led major textile strikes, championed labor safety, and innovated production methods. Recovering this history corrects the erasure of female industrial workers and organizers from progress narratives.
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