How did the Industrial Revolution contribute to anthropological studies?

The Industrial Revolution, which began in the late 18th century and continued into the 19th century, had a significant impact on the development of anthropology in several ways. The key contributions can be outlined as follows:

1. Urbanization and Social Change: As the Industrial Revolution led to rapid urbanization, people from rural areas migrated to cities for work in factories. This shift created new social structures and dynamics, providing anthropologists with a rich context to study urbanization, social class, labor, and migration patterns. These changes laid the foundation for the study of society and culture, which is central to anthropology.
2. Ethnographic Fieldwork: With the rise of industrial societies, there was a growing interest in understanding non-industrial societies as a contrast. Early anthropologists, such as Lewis Henry Morgan and Edward Burnett Tylor, were inspired to study indigenous cultures, which were perceived as more “primitive” compared to the industrialized world. This spurred the development of ethnographic fieldwork as anthropologists began traveling to remote parts of the world to document and study cultures.
3. Scientific Approach and Evolutionary Theory: The Industrial Revolution also coincided with the rise of scientific thinking, which influenced the development of anthropology as a more systematic and empirical field. Evolutionary theories, such as Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, had a profound impact on anthropology. Anthropologists like Morgan, Tylor, and later Franz Boas began to apply these ideas to understand human societies, culture, and development, including the idea that societies evolve through stages from “savagery” to “civilization.”
4. Technological Advancements: The Industrial Revolution brought about new technologies, such as photography and advancements in transportation (railways and steamships), which made it easier for anthropologists to gather data from far-flung regions and document their findings. These tools allowed anthropologists to produce more detailed and accurate representations of the cultures they studied.
5. Labor and Economic Systems: The rise of factory-based labor systems during the Industrial Revolution gave anthropologists insight into new economic structures, labor relations, and class dynamics. This contributed to the development of economic anthropology, which examines how societies produce, distribute, and consume resources.
6. Impact on Colonialism and Imperialism: The Industrial Revolution fueled European imperialism and colonial expansion, which opened up new regions for anthropological exploration. Many early anthropologists, often working in colonial contexts, studied the cultures of colonized peoples, sometimes reinforcing colonial ideologies but also contributing to the understanding of cultural diversity.