Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Responsible use of resources and less pollution
It is doubtful that a small industry manufacturing products for the local community would
bury barrels of poisonous waste in the area. A small industry, based on local resources,
would most likely have a much longer perspective in planning the use of resources than
a larger also firm with a much broader base.
For the manufacturer and the consumer
Less bureaucracy
In most cases there is a feeling of solidarity in the primary relationship. In the secondary
relationship solidarity is replaced by laws, rules, production standards etc., and expensive
and inefficient bureaucracy.
Flexibility
Possibilities for spontaneity in the production process, e.g. to change a door handle or re-
style a suit, are much greater in the primary relationship. This has to do with the use of
imagination, which we can assume is appreciated by both the manufacturer and the con-
sumer.
For the worker
Safer places of work
Worker-controlled industries limit their own size and will remain local. People living in such
an area realize that by buying local products they are supporting the local industries, and
that everyone is dependent upon everyone else. People are also aware of any unem-
ployment. This also creates solidarity.
Meaningful work
There is a big difference in the scope and challenge of the work of a carpenter who
builds a complete house and the carpenter who fits the windows into a prefabricated
house. The latter misses two important aspects of his identity as a builder: a relation-
ship to the completed house and to the client. Instead of this, he forms a relationship to
many houses and many clients which is abstract and not so meaningful. Close contact
between worker and client increases the possibilities for a more personal touch in the
product.
E. F. Schumacher sums it up like this: 'What one does for oneself and for
friends will always be more important than what one does for strangers'
(McRobie, 1981).
With the continuous division of industry into separate skills, there has also
been a geographical division of work in the direction of forming small commu-
nities around these specialized industries. There are now communities whose
inhabitants work only for an aluminium factory, for example. Opportunities for
different experiences become less and less and the communities become less
exciting to live in. Just as with the division of work, the geographical division of
