Is Canada a Post-Industrial Country? Essay -- Economics, History

The term post-industrialism refers to a transition from one form of society to another; the original society being an industrial society, mainly dominated by forms of specialized physical labour, and the latter being a service and knowledge dominated format. An industrial society has many unique and definitive characteristics that separate it from a post-industrial one. Some of these characteristics include the heavy use of machinery in large factories; the use of fossil fuels to power the machinery; the specialization of jobs allowing for increased productivity, which led to urban expansion. In regards to class dynamics, there are/were few people at the† top†, who own the factors of production, and many front-line, blue-collar workers at the â€Å"bottom.† The huge gaps in income, status, and control between these two groups produced an imbalance of power; considered a negative aspect of industrialism. With Industrialism, work is specialized, and it has been said that these workers were alienated from the goods they helped produce as a result. In contrast, a post-industrial society marks a shift from a society based on the mass production of goods to one that hinges on the provision of services. In this type of society, capital switches from bodies and heavy machinery to knowledge, as with knowledge comes creativity, a force seemingly responsible for economic growth in a post-industrial society. As far as creativity is concerned, it can flow from the skills of an engineer, a scientist, an artist, etc. Much emphasis is placed on the upgrading of human capital and of attaining some form of specialized education. This type of knowledge-based economy logically offers more opportunity to those with a high-level education, creat... ...s Canada created in this post-industrial era. Are the jobs a small amount of high-end and high-paid service jobs that require large investments in human capital or are they low-end service jobs that require minimal education and training? Works Cited Krahn, H., Lowe, G. Hughes, K. (2008). Work, Industry & Canadian Society. (5th ed.) Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd. HRSDC Labour statistics Division. (2009). The Canadian Labour Market at a Glance 2007. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada. HRSDC Labour Statistics Division. (2007). Looking Ahead: A Ten-Year Outlook for the Canadian Labour Market (2006 – 2015). Ottawa, ON: Retrieved from http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/publications_resources/research/categories/labour_market_e/sp_615_10_06/supply Critoph, Ursule. Et al. (2010). Sociology of Work and Industry. Alberta, CA: Athabasca University.