unit 1 + 1.5 - IR and Sociology

Question 1

Who was Karl Marx?

Answer 1

Karl Henrich Marx was a German philosopher and economist who was born on May 5th 1818. He developed the theory of Marxism as well as various other social, economic and political theories. He is considered one of the 3 principal architects alongside Emile Durkheim and Max Weber

Question 2

Give one example where people adapted to their surroundings to survive

Answer 2

Hong Kong

The land space there is very low but it also has a relatively high population. Hence to accommodate all of the people, instead of expanding their homes horizontally, they built upwards. That is one of the main reasons why Hong Kong has some of the biggest high-rise buildings in the world.

Question 3

Capitalism

Answer 3

Employed throughout most of the world today

Ownership is based on capital rather than slaves or land

Capitalists (businessmen) use capital to hire workers to turn raw materials into something that can be used or something that can be traded, something that can be sold

Everything is based on profit and gain and about making money

Question 4

Problems of capitalism

Answer 4

1. Inequality
2. Economic Instability
3. Monopoly power
4. Environmental damage
5. Immobility (difficult for people to change their situation, eg - a labourer cant be a businessman)

Question 5

History of Communism

Answer 5

After peak of capitalism, Marx and sociologists found flaws in it such as
-workers being treated unfairly
- huge pay gaps between rich and poor

This caused a revolution led by the proleteriats against the burgoises called the Labour movement in the 18th century

This movement resulted in communism where everyone owns and shares resources and there is no more social segregation

Question 6

Communism

Answer 6

Based on our ancestors ideologies
No inherited wealth
Even distribution
Stateless - Eveyone lives together with no borders
Classless - No discrimination
Wealth is distributed based on needs rather Profit
Private poession is there but not private ownership
Moneyless society - aquisation of wealth is no longer the driving force

Question 7

Communism simple defination

Answer 7

From each according to his ability to each according to his needs

Question 8

Communism negatives

Answer 8

Utopian society
Unrealsitci
Formation of an hierarchy is inevitable
Eg - Lenin implmented his idea of communism in the USSR and while it was good in the started, after some protests, he made it single party state where the government had the say (which difered from marx’s communism)

Question 9

Marxism theory and in which 2 books did he publish it

Answer 9

Marxism is a Philosophy focused on the battle between the working class and the ownership class where the class struggle would eventually lead to worker’s revolution in favor to oppress the elites and overturn capitalism into communism/socialism

This was published by Karl Marx in his Communist Manifesto and the Das Kapital

Question 10

What is the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 10

The Industrial Revolution was a period of significant economic, technological, and social changes that began in the late 18th century, marked by the shift from handcraft-based economies to industrial and machine-based production. Started in Great Britain with the invention of steam-powered engines

Question 11

What was the industrial revolution in short

Answer 11

Basically, we went from making things by hand to making things by machines in a partciular place in mass amounts

Question 12

Why were factories important in a social point of view

Answer 12

Factories provided more jobs which resulted in economic growth and mass production of goods. Mass production meant more trade and more jobs meant a new working class emerged. This also allowed for more, better quality products to be produced which helped a country’s trade and GDP

Question 13

What all feilds were impacted by the indutrial revolution

Answer 13

Textile
Communication
Transportation
Art
Economics
Agriculturw

Question 14

Innovations in transportation

Answer 14

introduction of steam-powered locomotives and a never-ending railway industry.

Question 15

Innovations in textile

Answer 15

Introduction of power loom (Edward Cartwright) and spinning jenny (James Hargreaves)

Question 16

Innovations in communication

Answer 16

Inevntion of the telegraph by Sir Francis Ronald

Innovations of the morse code by Samuel Morse

Question 17

How IR changed our daily lives?

Answer 17

The Industrial Revolution transformed daily life by introducing machinery, urbanization, and new production methods, leading to increased efficiency. Many big modern countries like the USA are a result of industrialisation.

Question 18

Why was Britain a pioneer in industrialization?

Answer 18

2. wet coal mines - mines were flooded which led to the discovery of the steam engine
3. elites interested in business
4. profits from imperialist countries and slaves from the transatlantic slave trade (trade triangle)
5. Capatalist economyic system
6. Great environmental Landscape

Question 19

Which countries stole Britain’s railroad systems

Answer 19

Belgium, Switzerland, France and Germany

Question 20

Local and global factors which helped Britain to industrialize:

Answer 20

local factors: abundant natural resources, great environmental landscape, skilled workforce, and political stability,

global factors: colonial trade, the triangular trade (Atlantic slave trade), and access to diverse raw materials

Question 21

Industrialization at a global scale: Japan

Answer 21

Japan’s industrialisation started with western military men led by Mathews Perry entering the bay of Japan for a show of power and even colonisation

Before Japan’s IR, it was under the Tokugawa Shogunate which meant the military was in control.

In fear or colonisation, a civil war broke out between the locals and the government where the locals asked for a change in the government. The locals eventually won and a new emperor was crowned - 14 year old Emperor Mejji

He brought western ideologies and adapted to their technology. He created a centralised government and brought in changes in the fields of military, textiles, and ship building.

He also increased trade of raw materials for western tech

Made more schools to grow a working class and increased contact with the outside world

Despite facing challenges like high Tariffs and less raw materials, Japan still managed to industrialise and create a distinct economy where the businessmen worked closely with the government.

Question 22

What were the name of the 2 clans and the alliance that formed to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate

Answer 22

Satcho Alliance between the Satsuma and Choshu clans

Question 23

Industrialization at a global scale: India

Answer 23

Pre colonisation, India was a strong independent country and used to own 25% of the world’s industrial output. Thanks to the Mughal Empire.

But all of this changed in mid 19th century, when the textile powerhouse became Britain due to its factories

India’s large textile output had relied on hand-loom technology, but that part of the process was now done by machines in Britain

Industrialisation in Britain caused a collapse in India’s economy as machine-woven textiles were better than hand made ones and British Industrialists made sure that textile tech didn’t reach India. As a result, the indian economy crashed. Millions of laborers lost their jobs and had to grow cotton to survive.

this made India one of the largest exporters of raw cotton rather than finished textile products and the British saw this as an opportunity to colonise India by increasing trade with them and implementing policies which hurt India but helped the british

As a result, of this colonisation, food prices rose and India was hit a series of famines during that time

This was because people wernt able to afford food and the East Indian Company focused on production of cotton rather than food

With colonisation, the British stripped India of its natural resources and did whatever they could to stop India from fully industrializing. However, they still made some advancements such as railways, telegraph but that was for their benefit rather than India’s

After independence, Indian businessmen started to incorporate Western tech into traditional Indian systems. They saw the availability of raw materials and the demand for manufactured goods. They also increased trade which in turn increased India’s trade

Question 24

Effects of de industrilisation in India

Answer 24

De-industrialization caused widespread famines, increased taxes, and rising costs of essential goods like rice, worsening economic hardships and weakening India’s independence

Question 25

What are the political explnations for India’s de industilisation

Answer 25

The decline of the Mughal Empire and the influence of European merchants led to political effects, allowing for exploitation of India’s resources by foreign powers like the British East India Company

Question 26

Proletariat

Answer 26

Wage workers who were engaged in production

Income = Labour power

Question 27

Bourgeoise

Answer 27

Business owners who control the means of production in a capitalist society

Question 28

Laissez Faire

Answer 28

Free economic system with minimal government interaction

Question 29

Factory life - conditions of workers, women, and children in factories

Answer 29

characterized by long working hours, poor working conditions, and exploitation of the poor,

women and children were often subjected to low wages and hazardous environments during the early stages of industrialization.

Led to protests of workers’ rights (labour movement) and labour reforms

Luddites - a secret organisation who used to destroy machinery

Question 30

Class conflict

Answer 30

emerged during the Industrial Revolution as the capitalist class (Bourgeoise) faced tensions with the working class (Proleteriats), leading to labour movements and the pursuit of workers’ rights

Question 31

How did industrialisation spred

Answer 31

Britain tried to keep it secret but traders from different countries came to Britain, learned the techniques and then stole the machines and took them home

Question 32

Water frame

Answer 32

Richard Arkwright 1769

Question 33

Spinning Jenny

Answer 33

James Hargreaves in 1765

Question 34

Power loom

Answer 34

Edward Cartwright 1785

Question 35

Cotton Gin

Answer 35

Eli Whitney 1793

Question 36

Morse Code

Answer 36

Samuel Morse

Question 37

Telegraph

Answer 37

Sir Francis Ronald

Question 38

Cotton Mill

Answer 38

Richard Arkwright 1771

Question 39

Steam engine

Answer 39

Initial design by Thomas Newcomen, later modified by James Watt in 1764

Question 40

star trek line (which can be used in essay) on communism

Answer 40

The aquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives

Question 41

famus people describing factory life

Answer 41

Charles Dickens - “dark satanic mills”

E P thompson - “a place of sexual license”

Question 42

abolishing children in factories acts

Answer 42

The factory act of 1833 - no child under 9 can work and above can work for max 9 hours

The mines act - restricted mining work for children under age 10

Question 43

Role of colonies in IR and what impact did it have on them

Answer 43

Colonies helped in providing raw materials, captive markets, and military advantages to European countries but got severe economic backlash such as in the case of India

Question 44

Impact of Industrial revolution on ideologies

Answer 44

It led to the rise of the Capitalism economic system. It gave birth to ideas such as socialism, communism and liberalism.

Question 45

Socialism

Answer 45

From each according to his ability to each according to his contribution.

Where distribution of wealth and capital is based on the contribution of the individual

The means of production and distribution are owned or regulated by the community as a whole