What are the disadvantages of industrialization?

We can consider the disadvantages of industrialization in several respects. How does it impact society? How does it impact the individual? How does it impact the planet? These are just a few things to consider.

First, let's talk about how industrialization impacts society. When production becomes industrialized, major changes are made in economy. During the Industrial Revolution, which occurred during the late 18th and 19th centuries, people's lives changes drastically as a result of innovations in production of goods. Prior to the industrialization, most production (of food, clothing, household items, etc) was done on a household or estate basis. It was a very time consuming way of life, as one family might be responsible for growing, transforming, and/or building everything they needed. Clothing is a great example when we talk about industrialization. Prior to the industrial revolution, someone would have to grow the cotton or flax, tend the fields, harvest the plant, card the fibers, spin it into thread, and finally weave cloth to be made into a garment. Such work! The use of machines, especially in factories, enabled a much quicker process which could be done on a massive scale.

While industrialization made production easier, it also put many people at a disadvantage. The process of industrialized production requires many people to perform just one task in the line of production over and over. Not only is knowledge of the entire process lost in this way, it can contribute to the devaluing of labor. Referring back to our example of clothing, in the pre-industrial setting, one or a few people were responsible for the entire process. Post-industrialization, one person would be responsibel for just growing the flax or just weaving the cloth. Early on in the Industrial Revolution, many people who labored in fields, mines, and factories were paid low wages (though a wage nonetheless) because their work was valued less in this complex system of production. 

With centers of industrial production springing up, even today, sometimes society and geography cannot keep up with the great influx of people who wish to work in factories. During the Victorian period in London, many people flocked to the cities to find work. However, housing and public health couldn't adequately accommodate so many people! These new classes of working people often lived and worked in very cramped and unsanitary conditions because the rapid waves of migration did not allow time for other changes in society to be made. Individuals being paid low wages and living in unsanitary conditions suffered more health risks than their countryside counterparts, but certainly had more opportunities available to them. 

When we talk about industrialization, especially in a contemporary context, it is important to consider the environmental impacts of industry. Much of our world relies on a market of goods produced on a massive scale. One of the disadvantages of this strategy is that it can easily throw our environment out of balance. Consider the effects of mass-agriculture: many crops have the consequence of using up the nutrients of the soil they are grown in. This field then needs to "take a break" to replenish itself. In an industrialized agricultural setting, the fields don't always get to replenish themselves and can be made unusable in future. Some industries, like paper production, have the effect of removing great numbers of important parts of the ecosystem. Trees help to transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, in addition to offering soil stability, and their removal for paper production or as "land clearing" deals a large blow to the health of that ecosystem. 

With industrialization, we also face the risk of polluting the environment and poisoning ourselves and other inhabitants of Earth. Many forms of production create by-products in the forms of liquids and gases which can pollute the air and water surrounding the factory. It is difficult to manage such "industrial waste," and pollution by production companies who do not dispose of their waste responsibly has resulted in many deaths. 

At face value, industrialization has many benefits. In order for humans to truly reap the rewards of industrialization, we need to take action to ensure our means of production are responsible and ethical not just for ourselves, but for other living beings and the environment.