Manual Work in Transition Economies
by Peter STAYKOV
Every epoch has its priorities, its pretensions and its prejudices and illusions. Every generation is training in its own way to put these problems which are for that eternal, because they can’t be finally solved forever.
So that, the conceptions for the possibilities and the needs of a vocational realization of the Blind has its history, his past, a present, and probably its future. Every historical acquisition is related with a loss, with some thing which was existing already. And almost always in the following periods of time, we discover some thing new, which is no thing but more ore less some thing which we already forgot.
I realize, that today, in the conditions of an accelerated revolution of the information technologies it seems a little bit strange to speak for the manual labour as a possibility for professional realization of a visually impaired people. On other hand, it is clear, that still the time is far away, in which the computers and the computer machinery will do every work, which now dais, in a lot of the cases could be reached with a direct participation of the human hands.
Some thing more, it seems to me that exactly in this process, in the time of a reducting interest of the people towards the manual work, they will discover a possibilities for some of the visually impaired people to find in this domain their living and socialization.
I will try to support main thesis :
Until some centuries ago in the Western Europe a dominating place in that day economy was seized from the handicrafts and the agriculture. And immediately we have to remember that as much as a head was going the development of the handicrafts, that much stronger was becoming the regulation of this activity and that was totally natural for that time and for those conditions. The strengthening influence of the handicrafts was leading to a more strong interest towards them, respectively to the desire of more and more people to be included in this type of activity.
Through the regulation of the time, the handicrafts organization were defending strongly their conditions of a labour and their labour places.
During the second half of the eighteen century the started manufacturing revolution with a characteristic for its development of the machine manufacturing, totally destroyed the existing system and created a free and liberal labor market.
This change and the following from it abolishment of the restrictions for an access to the exercising of some handicrafts professions, in fact gave the opportunity during the nineteenth century, to the Blind to start more successfully to penetrate in the sphere of the handicrafts and there to find their professional realization.
The development of the machine technology, gradually but irreversible included new and new kinds of activity and in the second part of the twentieth century covered the sector of the handicrafts as one of the semi-archaic heritage. Who today’s buys the manufactured in a way used only until some decades ago brushes or for example knitted with canes home vessels ? The handicrafts "manufacturing, until this extend if is it still existing somewhere specialized until big degree only in the productions of unique items, or items of luxury and splendour. It is known that manufacturing of a such a type of a goods never could have a mass and popular character and as a result it can’t engage a big human resources.
During the twentieth century due to the different, on one hand economically and on other hand ideologically reasons, the development of the question of the labour realization of the visually impaired people in the European countries was solved through two main directions :
1. in the West European countries in which the processes of the development of the free market economy were continuous, the visually impaired people more and more oriented themselves towards some relatively new professions from the spheres of services, because the last ones had a subordinates status with respect to the industry and as far as the industry itself couldn’t totally still takes priority over this sphere of services.
2.In the countries in which was fulfilled the grandiose social experiment called " the construction of the socialism", the visually impaired people were included in the industrial manufacturing and for that purpose in the majority of the cases were created a big number of especial enterprises for visually impaired people.
3.As a result of such activity until the end of communist rule over these countries, the biggest part of the visually impaired people were working in these enterprise.
4.That was giving them self-confidence and material good standard. But in a practice, this situation leaded to the fact, that the Blind organizations in these countries didn’t have a ready solutions fore the time to arrive, when the communist system disintegrated and as a result issued such a chaos which for a purpose of melodiousness and harmony we call it now "a transition from totalitarian and planed to the free market economy".
5.In the new conditions the state in practice disinterested itself from the problems of the visually impaired people. The specialized enterprises were deprived from the existing in the centralized planed economy specific forms of protection and they were put in equal conditions with all rest. But even that it is not exactly truth, because a lot of the rest of the enterprises could develop and promote their activity without particularly to be interested from the observation of the still valid till this moment taxis and another having relation with their activity lows… The specialized enterprises of the Union of the Blind in Bulgaria, due to the different reasons couldn’t permit to their self this luxury, at least because they couldn’t take part at the bribing of the state officials. On the other hand they had to represent a big means also to the social organization itself, because the financial resources, which the Union of the Blind receives from the state in order to realize its specific activities even till know are not sufficient.
In this way, twelve years after the beginning of the economical reforms in Bulgaria in the specialized enterprises for the Blind people, now are working less than 10 per cent of a Blind in their economic active age.
A few of people can imagine what a big energy and self-determination and self-denial are needed from a part of the managers of this enterprises in order to continue to keep them even in this very reduced number. As much as heavy is the economic situation that much is without petty is the competition between the economic subjects inside it. Il is clear that in such a situation the energy, the knowledge and the self-denial of the leaders of the specialized enterprises could slow down the processes, but the preservation of the enterprises will be not possible without the very active and with good will and additionally competent intervention of the state.
Our experience shows that such an enterprises could function in a spheres in which already is not possible to extract more profits, therefore they don’t have serious interest for the investors and contractors.
Beside that in the conditions of a free and regulated competition at the labour market is possible to find another fact. The labour places for the Blind could find.
Only in a spheres in which there is not a serious flow of a cheap and qualified labour manpower, coming from midst of the people without any impairments.
After the end of the communism the Central and East European countries, following one or another way have to register itself in the world economical system and as a result in itself gradually will start to flow the same processes which are characteristic for the countries with traditionally functioning market economy.
The revolution of the information couldn’t pass beside them. Something more, it by different ways aggressively enters in the economical and social life of the ex communist countries. This process is still in its beginning stage there for to us it is impossible to imagine the results to which it will arrives. We can even today with confidence to affirm that in this process the new technology more and more will push out the modern till yesterday and becoming today already classical industrial technologies.
The penetrating of the informational technologies will lead to big changes of a big human masses at the labour market. This is much more naturally, that this movement will be from the traditionally industrial professions towards the profession created from the development of the new informational technologies.
It is not necessarily a particular big foresight in order a man to calculate that in the following years the relative part of the namely occupied persons in this sphere will get bigger with increasing temps. Not directly a proof for that is the fact that the most valued product which the ex-communist countries export in West Europe and in the North America are the computer experts. By itself it shows that the needs in this sphere are increasing faster than the possibilities of these countries are to produce the needed number of such specialists.
In such conditions no doubt starts a new orientation of the powers, which are pressing over the labour market. Naturally the most serious pressure and struggle for occupation of the more profitable positions will have at the market of the new professions an that naturally will reduces the interest towards the traditional related to the classical industrial production professions.
From the above said follows at least two things :
- In the sphere of the new technologies we have a huge dynamics and flows an accelerated inside differentiation which increase the possibilities to open a new labour places for a Blind experts.
- In the sphere of the traditional industrial productions are increasing the possibilities of occupation of the existing labour places for visually impaired people, because of the reduced and continuing to reduce the interest of the people without any visual impairment.
From that follows that in the sphere of the industrial enterprises I clearly underline that of all industrial enterprises and only of the sheltered ones, will open more and more possibilities for professional realization for the people with sight impairment.
In the sphere of the super new technologies is valid the principle which is valid.
In every else common human activity : in order an expert without sight to be accepted as an equal to the rest, he compulsory has to be at least a little bit better from others. Il is why in this sphere as it is the all others in which we have competition between the different individuals until the high levels will reach a small number of a very capable specialists.
The development of these technologies is also producing the difference between them and gradually some of them are becoming more and more accessible to a people which have a middle and a little bit over the medial level of the human possibilities. Il is way we shouldn’t miss no one possibility for professional training and the respectful realization of a bigger groups of handicapped people in this sphere.
Search of a new possibilities for professional realization of the Blind people we have to foresee, to calculate the fact, that as much as the interest is smaller, towards certain sector from the economical system of the society, that much the chances of the Blind are bigger to be included in it.
Exactly because of this reason I think that the organizations which will engage themselves to search the solutions of the problem for the professional realization of the Blind they have today or tomorrow to pay a serious attention of the branches in which is preserved big application of the manual and mechanized manual labour.
From what was said till now, I don’t want say that we have to give our back to the all rest possibilities and to oriented the visually impaired people to include their self in the industrial sector. The humble position which I try to support in front of you is that we today see an increasing dynamics in the field of technologies which from is resulting the increasing and accelerating dynamics in the labour market. From that follows that if cleverly put the goals and consecutively work for its.
Achievement today and tomorrow we have and we will have increasing possibilities for professional realization of the Blind in a new at this moment underestimated spheres of the social life.
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