ABSTRACT
Since the industrial revolution spread from Britain to other parts of Europe and then well beyond, a balance between commonality and diversity has been central to comparative analysis. All industrial revolutions have had some essential common features. They obviously involved not only massive technological and organizational change but also redefinition of family function and alteration of the nature of work and leisure. Every industrial revolution so far has yielded a dramatic turn toward slower population growth through lower birthrates resulting from the reduced utility of children’s work. The precise process has varied according to region and social class but the birthrate revolution has been a fairly uniform result. Assessment of the industrial revolution in its many manifestations raises vital questions about gains and losses. These questions are not simply historical, since they involve the values of the observer as well as the objective data, but they should not be avoided simply because they must be debated.
