Before the Industrial Revolution
The period before the Industrial Revolution is characterized by the proto-industrialisation phase, which saw the emergence of a market-driven economy in rural areas. Merchants began investing in rural craftsmanship, where peasant households supplemented their agricultural income by producing goods for international markets. This shift was significant as it transitioned production from urban guilds to countryside artisans, effectively laying the groundwork for later industrial growth.
While the Industrial Revolution is often associated with the rise of factories, it's crucial to note that industrial production existed before factories, defined by merchant capitalists mobilizing rural labor. The increase in demand for goods through expanding world trade, alongside the decline of guild power, opened avenues for intensified production in rural settings. This dynamic relationship between urban merchants and rural laborers transformed the socio-economic landscape.
The expansion of the domestic system of production, coupled with advancements in technology (such as spinning wheels and early textile machinery), stimulated the initial phases of industrial activity. As technological improvements emerged, they fostered a gradual transition toward the establishment of factories, which ultimately revolutionized production processes, labor dynamics, and social structures in the coming centuries.