Technological Change and Space-Time Use in an Artisan Fishing Occupation
"ARTISAN FISHERMEN" IS A TERM APPLIED TO FISHERMEN WHO RELY MORE ON CRAFT SKILLS AND ANIMATE POWER THAN ON MECHANIZATION AND INANIMATE POWER IN THEIR OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITY; FOR THEM LIVING IS CHARACTERISTICALLY AT A SUBSISTENCE LEVEL. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH WAS TO EXAMINE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN USE OF SPACE AND OF TIME IN AN OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITY AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES RELATED TO THAT OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITY. THE HYPOTHESIS EXAMINED WAS THAT TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE CAN ACCOMPANY ALTERATIONS IN ORIENTATION TO AND USE OF SPACE AND TIME RELATED TO AN OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITY. PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE-TIME ORIENTATION AND USE OF SPACE AND TIME RELATED TO AN OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITY. PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE-TIME ORIENTATION AND USE IS TAKEN WITH THE FOLLOWING CONCEPT OF A SOCIAL SYSTEM: HUMAN ORGANISMS MUTUALLY INVOLVED AND SYNCHRONIZED WITH EACH OTHER AND A GIVEN ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT. THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN A FISHING VILLAGE ON THE WEST COAST OF PUERTO RICO. DATA WERE SECURED BY INTERVIEW; A TOTAL OF 40 INTERVIEWS WAS MADE. THE DATA PRESENTED HERE ARE FROM INTERVIEWS WITH 27 ARTISAN FISHERMEN, CONSTITUTING 67.5% OF THE PERSONS INTERVIEWED; 32.5% WERE ENGAGED IN NON-FISHING OCCUPATIONS.