Suchergebnisse

Present products and their means of production are wasteful of energy and materials and are produced by means which frequently reduce human beings to mere machine appendages. Examples are given of socially useful products which, in design, manufacture and use, enhance human skill and ingenuity, conserve energy materials and help human beings rather than control, deskill and maim them. Examples are given of advanced human-centred production systems. It is suggested that the pursuit of such alternatives constitutes a vital new role for the Trade Union Movement.

The computer is increasingly being used as a Trojan Horse for Taylorism. We are now beginning to repeat in the intellectual work environment many of the mistakes already made at such cost in the field of manual work. The division of labour is sweeping through the entire spectrum of white-collar work from routine clerical tasks to some of the highest levels of creative activity such as design. Examples are provided of alternative systems which are human centred and enhancing. Whether such systems are implemented is a question of profound ideological and political significance.