The Guild System

One of the many effects of industrialization was the decline and disappearance of guilds. Guilds could be found in all parts of the world during the pre-industrial era. In earlier eras, they served an important role in preserving and transmitting knowledge of their statecraft over the years. This was a necessary steps for much of history since political structures were rarely durable. In those empires that lasted for long periods of time (e.g. Rome and China), there were long periods of turbulence within the empire. Guilds were a source of stability and protection in such times. It was primarily because of guilds that rulers in many parts of the world were able to construct grandiose structures. Since the guild system was designed to preserve knowledge and transmit it to the next generation, they were inherently conservative. This was fine before industrialization since changes came slowly and practices could persist relatively unchanged for centuries.

However, with industrialization came change at an ever accelerating pace. The inherent conservativeness of guilds became obstructive to new ways of thinking and doing things that were now required. The incentive to operate outside the guild system became greater and opportunities to do so became easier. These factors among others caused guilds to decline in importance and over time they were eventually banned in most countries.

However, has the guild system actually disappeared or has it morphed into new shapes and forms? While the basic purpose of guilds was to preserve and transmit knowledge, they were also an important control mechanism. Guilds could control who entered the system and who did not. They also controlled the means by which knowledge transfer could take place as well as the kinds of knowledge that were preserved and transferred. In other words, guilds helped to enforce and transmit an orthodoxy of thought. The question is that has this basic purpose disappeared in the modern era? If anything, control of knowledge - the kind of knowledge and the mechanism of knowledge transfer - has become even more important. In that sense, guilds have not only not disappeared, they are in fact thriving as never before!