ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on ambiguous character of the concept or idea of industrialization in scholarly thought. The popular image of industrialization and the colloquial meaning that corresponds to it have been fashioned in large measure by an uncritical picture of the industrial revolution in Great Britain. Much of inadequacy of conventional images of industrialization lies in confusing it with other processes. The fusion of industrialization and technological development is very common today in social science thought. It has become fashionable for scholars to attack the problem of social change, especially in underdeveloped countries, in terms of idea of technological development. The fact that industrialization and urbanization usually take place side by side is no reason or justification for lumping them together as agents of social change. The remarks with regard to economic growth, technological development, industrial development, urbanization, and modernization suggest the large amount of ambiguity imparted to the concept of industrialization by confusing it with these kinds of items.
