Marx’s theory of alienation
Karl Marx’s theory of alienation describes the separation and estrangement of people from their work, their wider world, their human nature, and their selves. Alienation is a consequence of the division of labour in a capitalist society, wherein a human being’s life is lived as a mechanistic part of a social class.
The theoretical basis of alienation is that a worker invariably loses the ability to determine life and destiny when deprived of the right to think (conceive) of themselves as the director of their own actions; to determine the character of these actions; to define relationships with other people; and to own those items of value from goods and services, produced by their own labour. Although the worker is an autonomous, self-realised human being, as an economic entity this worker is directed to goals and diverted to activities that are dictated by the bourgeoisie—who own the means of production—in order to extract from the worker the maximum amount of surplus value in the course of business competition among industrialists.
The theory, while found throughout Marx’s writings, is explored most extensively in his early works, particularly the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, and in his later working notes for Capital, the Grundrisse. Marx’s theory draws heavily from Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and from The Essence of Christianity (1841) by Ludwig Feuerbach. Max Stirner extended Feuerbach’s analysis in The Ego and its Own (1845), claiming that even the idea of ‘humanity’ is itself an alienating concept. Marx and Friedrich Engels responded to these philosophical propositions in The German Ideology (1845).
Marxist theory describes alienation as a condition where workers become disconnected from their labor, the products of their labor, their fellow workers, and their own human potential under capitalism. This separation occurs because capitalism forces workers into a system where they have no control over their work, which is performed only as a means of survival rather than a form of self-expression. The four forms of alienation are: from the product, from the labor process, from fellow individuals, and from one’s human essence.
The four types of alienation
- From the product of labor: Workers have no ownership or control over the products they create. The items become commodities that are then sold by the capitalist, often at a price far greater than the wages paid to the worker.
- From the labor process: The work itself is not fulfilling but is forced, tedious, and reduces the worker to a mere “cog in the machine” performing a small, meaningless task. The process is dictated by others, and the worker’s creativity and autonomy are stifled.
- From human essence (or species-being): This is the idea that work is a fundamental part of human nature and should be a source of fulfillment, self-expression, and creativity. Under capitalism, work becomes a mere means of survival, and workers are alienated from their potential for a free and creative existence.
- From fellow individuals: Capitalism fosters a competitive environment where workers are pitted against each other and social relationships are reduced to the “cash nexus” of transactions. The solidarity and community found in pre-capitalist societies break down, and individuals become isolated.
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[1] https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/alienation
[2] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3843057