Alienation

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines alienation as "the state of feeling estranged or separated from one’s milieu, work, products of work, or self." The term has been in use since Plato, but Karl Marx was the one to use it explicitly and defined alienation in detail in "The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts" in 1844. He names four aspects of alienation that became visible in the capitalist society:

Alienation from the Product of Labour

The worker is alienated from the products, because he does not invent them or exchange or use them. They are in the possession of the capitalist he works for. Although he might have the desire to own the products or work with them creatively, he will never be allowed, because they are not his. Thus, he does not have any relationship to the goods he is working with. This is intensified by the fact that the harder he works, the more will the power and value of the system above him increase. The more effective he produces the lesser will his personal value be. With his creativity and labour power he increases the value of the product and the lesser he will be paid. Instead of fulfillment he becomes exhausted and is paid with money which can never have the same value as the effort he puts into his labour.

Alienation from the Labour Process

The labour process is defined by the lack of control the worker has over his working process. The worker's power is even turned into its opposite. His creativity and power are turned into exhaustion and impotence. By dividing the labour into parts (Adam Smith's "division of labour"), the individual worker has less responsibility and decreases in value. He also feels alienated from the labour process because it is fragmented into so many parts that he loses the overview of the overall production. The task itself becomes unchallenging and meaningless through the fragmentation. Thereby, the worker has no chance to identify with the end product.

Alienation from Human Beings

As a result of a class society, workers are also alienated from their fellow human beings. They see the products of their labour as something hostile and alien to them, something that is independent from them. In addition, they also only see their fellow beings in the products they use. They do not know each other personally but through their representation of different levels of production, the personification of capital, land or labour. Therefore, new products are not produced to meet our needs or enhance our development, but to evoke needs and exploit them for making more profit.

Alienation from Human Nature

The distinct human ability is the ability to shape the world according to one's needs and desires; this is the human nature. But in capitalist societies, labour is coerced and not done independently, thus it is not labour according to free human nature. And it is those who force labour that profit from it whereas the deprived ones are only exploited without benefits. Thus, the worker's human nature is neglected and he is alienated from it. As a conclusion a single worker cannot foresee the consequences of his labour or the side effects it might have on nature or on others. Another factor is that, normally, demand controls production. In capitalist societies, there is a overproduction of goods which leads to a lack of enjoying the success of producing goods that others need. Instead, workers feel that their creativity and labour power is exhausted and redundant by the fact that they produce more than society can consume.

As a conclusion it can be said that according to Marx's theory of alienation, workers in a capitalist, industrial class society are dehumanised and exploited and reduced to means of production without a right to individuality.

Sources:

- Cox, Judy. An Introduction the Marx's Theory of Alienation. International Socialism. Quarterly Journal of the Socialist Workers Party (Britain). Issue 79, 1998. http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj79/cox.htm Web. 06. Dec. 2011.

- Nielsen, Wayne. Notes on Marx's Theory of Alienation. Mosaic 2,1 (1968), p. 123-129.

- "alienation." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/15408/alienation>.

- "modernization." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387301/modernization>.