Introducing Society 1 · Section 13

functioning as well as concerted efforts for better conditions. Another indicator of the emergence of modern societies was the new significance of clock-time as a basis of social organisation. A crucial aspect of this was the way in which, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the tempo of agricultural and manufacturing labour increasingly came to be set by the clock and calendar in a way very different from pre-modern forms of work. Prior to the development of industrial capitalism, work-rhythms were set by factors such as the period of daylight, the break between tasks and the constraints of deadlines or other social duties.

Factory production implied the synchronisation of labour — it began punctually, had a steady pace and took place for set hours and on particular days of the week. In addition, the clock injected a new urgency to work. For both employer and employee ‘time is now money: it is not passed but spent.’ VIII WHY SHOULD WE STUDY THE BEGINNING AND GROWTH OF SOCIOLOGY IN EUROPE? Most of the issues and concerns of sociology also date back to a time when European society was undergoing tumultuous changes in the 18th and 19th centuries with the advent of capitalism and industrialisation.

Many of the issues that were raised then, for example, urbanisation or factory production, are pertinent to all modern societies, even though their specific features may vary. Indeed, Indian society with its colonial past and incredible diversity is distinct. The sociology of India reflects this. If this is so, why focus on Europe of that time?

Why is it relevant to start there? The answer is relatively simple. For our past, as Indians is closely linked to the history of British capitalism and colonialism. Capitalism in the west entailed a world-wide expansion.

The passages in the box on next page represent but two strands in the manner that western capitalism impacted the world. R.K. Laxman’s travelogue of Mauritius brings home the presence of this colonial and global past. Here Africans and Chinese, Biharis and Dutch, Persians and Tamils, Arabs, French and English all rub merrily with one another...

A Tamil, for instance, bears a deceptively south Indian face and a name to go with it to boot; Radha Krishna Activity Find out how work is organised in a traditional village, a factory and a call centre. Activity Find out how industrial capitalism changed Indian lives in villages and cities.