The performance of blind israelis at work

Blind people in Israel are occupied mainly as telephone switchboard operators and as assemblers in sheltered workshops. The question addressed is how workers maintain their application to work that is repetitive and mentally undemanding. The following practices are uncovered: the development of an emphatic labor ethos, and the practice of workers engaging in matters additional to their delimited menial positions at work. Particular differences of practice between individuals and between occupations are linked to organizational features of social situations and job roles, rather than to idiosyncrasies of individuals. The findings are linked to the theme of alienation in the sociology of labor, and to the effect of technology (specifically the telephone) on social life. The paper is based on observation during 17 months of fieldwork in a population of blind people in Tel-Aviv.