ALIENATION

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Origin
English term alienation is derived from the original Latin

noun alienato, which in turn is derived from the Latin

verb alienare meaning to take away or remove.
The Latin usage of the term resulted in two meanings:
Transfer of ownership of Property and a state of
separation or dissociation between two elements.
The meaning of the term as transfer of ownership was
largely used by social-contract theorists such as
Grotius, Hobbes, Locke , and Rousseau. In social
contract theories, an alienated worker was one who gave
up or surrendered personal rights, liberty, powers,
and controls to the general will of the community or
organization.

 The meaning of alienation as a state of

separation was primarily popularized in early
theological writings. It was interpreted as a
state of separation from God. Most theologians
found the cause of spiritual alienation in
worldly (material and sensuous) involvement. In
order to avoid spiritual alienation, they
encouraged alienation from the physical and
social
world.

Hegel used the term alienation in both the

above meanings.

PROPONENTS
JOHANN GOTTLIEB FICHTE (1790) Alienation between the
self and nature
G.W.H.HEGEL Alienation is inherent in the nature of all
spiritual creation
KARL MARX Alienation is Product of human creation
MAX WEBER Alienation due to
Rationalisation/Bureaucratization
C.W.MILLS Alienation of middle class Professionals in
service sector
Andre Gorz; Herbert Marcuse Alienation from work and
leisure
Robert Blauner Alienation and technology
Goldthorpw and Lockwood Work alienation
M.Seeman - subjective or psychological facet of alienation

FICHTE
Inspired by Kantian Dualism
What is
and
be
Nature

Coercion (Heteronomy)

No choice

What ought
Self

Freedom(autonomy)

Choice

Since freedom involves choice, the power to do otherwise,

freedom is possible only if it is taken outside the sphere of
nature entirely and placed in intellectual or noumenal realm.

HEGEL

HEGEL

Critical to Fichte
Used in two senses. First, Transfer of property and state of
separation.
Described in the books Philosophy of rights and Phenomenology
of mind. In the former it sensed transfer of property whereas in
the later it was used in both the senses transfer of property
(surrender or transfer of individual rights) and
state of
separation. Former is desirable, later undesirable.
The conscious state of separation is undesirable and major concern
for Hegel.
Alienation is inherent in all spiritual creation
Individual phenomena
Provided a Non-historical approach
Sees alienation as a necessary characteristic that haunts people
through all time, irrespective of their material conditions.
Alienation is a state of mind, consciousness, idea which has
nothing to do with the material condition and undesirable.

HEGEL USED ALIENATION IN TWO SENSES

Transfer of Property i.e. surrender

or transfer of individual rights
Deliberate for unity with
social substance

state of separation/consciousness

a condition which occurs when a

certain change in a persons self-Conceptions
takes place. It is neither something one does

nor
the intended result of a deliberate
action

to be overcome through continuous and

deliberate relinquishment or surrender of
ones
personal interests

MARX ON ALIENATION

Brought Alienation from spiritual realm to

material realm
Root of all alienation is economic alienation
steeped in the concept of private property
Provided Historical approach
Alienation was non-existent in primitive
communism. It originated during ancient society
due to surplus production and consequent
emergence of private property. It reached to its
maximum during capitalist mode of production
due to strictest concept of private property.

ALIENATION IN CAPITALSM
During

capitalist mode of
production both capitalists
and proletariat feel alienated
but alienation of proletariat is
of highest degree in extreme
form.

ALIENATION OF
PROLETARIAT
1.

ALIENATION FROM PRODUCT

2.

ALIENATION FROM PROCESS

3.

ALIENATION FROM HUMAN BEING

4.

ALIENATION FROM SPECIES BEING

ALIENATION FROM PRODUCT

Worker lacks control over the disposal of his product since what he

produces is appropriated by others, So that he does not benefit from it. It

is the core principal of the market economy that goods are produced for
exchange; in capitalist production, the exchange and distribution of goods
are controlled by the operations of the free market. The worker himself,
who is treated as a commodity to be bought and sold on the market, thus
has no power to determine the fate of what he produces. The workings of
the market act in such a way as to promote the interests of the capitalist
at the expense of those of the worker. Thus the more the worker produces
the less he has to consume; the more he creates the more worthless he
becomes.

A LIEN ATIO N FR O M P R O C ESS

The worker is alienated in the work task itself. The work task does

not offer intrinsic satisfactions which make it possible for the

worker 'to develop freely his mental and physical energies, Since
labour is imposed on worker by force of external circumstances
alone', (Economic division of labour) Work becomes a means to an
end rather than an end in itself: This is shown by the fact that as
soon as there is no physical or other compulsion, men free from
labour like the plague.
The extreme division of the labour coerces worker to do a part of

the whole work. The repetitive nature of work doesn't

worker.

satisfy

ALIENATION FROM HUMAN BEING

In capitalist mode of Production workers becomes
commodity of exchange. Instead of creating object it
becomes object itself. Since all economic relationships are
also social relationship, it follows that the alienation of
labour has direct social ramifications. This takes Marx back
to his starting-point; human relations in capitalism, tend to
become reduced to operations of the market. This is directly
manifest in the significance of money in human
relationships. Money promotes the rationalisation of social
relationships, since it provides an abstract standard in
terms of which the most heterogeneous qualities can be
compared and reduced to one another. He who can
purchase bravery is brave, though a coward. Thus, from the
standpoint of its possessor, it exchanges every quality and
object for every other, even though they are contradictory.

ALIENATION FROM SPECIES BEING

According to Marx, eating, sleeping and

procreating is essentially the nature of animal.
Human being is separated from animal in this
regard. During capitalist mode of production, due
to higher working hours and mechanical work
process they are reduced to consume, sleep and
procreate only. Alienated labour reduces human
productive activity to the level of adaptation to,
rather than active mastery of nature. This
detaches the human individual from his species
being, from what makes the life of the human
species distinct from that of the animals.

ALIENATION OF CAPITALISTS
Bourgeoisie is also alienated due to anarchy of

market forces. He does not produce what he wants or

what is needed by others but those commodities
which is to procure more profit. He is enslaved by
market forces and his enjoyment is mere satisfaction
of capital accumulation. In other words, capitalists
doesn't produce to satisfy his creative instinct but for
exchange.

SOLUTION OF ALIENATION BY K.MARX

The degree of alienation can be reduced
somewhat within the capitalist framework by
1.Reducing the working hours thereby providing
leisure time to workers.
2.Making the working condition humane.
.But Complete elimination is possible only
through the establishment of communist mode
of production. Even socialist mode of production
will contain some degree of alienation.

K.MARX Vs Max
WEBER

Marx was optimistic of solution

of the alienation but Max
Webers view on solution was
pessimistic. According to Max
Weber
man
will
be
progressively alienated with
the
industrialization
and
consequent rationalisation of
society.

MAX WEBER

His analysis is rooted in his theory of action and

rationalization of society.
Types of Action

Affective
Traditional
Rational
Society is moving towards greater rationalization
and its greatest manifestation is in bureaucracy
which expects its members to act in formalistic
impersonal manner i.e. without passion and
hatred. Thus bureaucrats act like a machine loosing
human nature hence alienated.

C.W.Mills on Alienation

Applies Alienation on non-manual American Middle Class study entitled

White Collar.
Explanation is limited to non-manual workers working in tertiary sector of
economy in advanced capitalist societies.
Just as manual workers become like commodities by selling their skills with
things, a similar process occurs when non-manual workers sell their skills
with persons' on the open market. Mills refers to this sector of the economy
as the 'personality market'. A Market value is attached to personality
characteristics and as a result people sell pieces of their personality.
Because aspects of personality are bought and sold like any other
commodity, individuals are alienated from their true selves.
He goes to the extreme of referring these workers as prostitute as he says
in the salesroom, in the boardroom , in the staff room, in the conference
room, men and women are prostituting their personalities in pursuit of
personal gain.

Andre Gorz ; Herbert Marcuse Alienation from work and leisure

1.

2.

3.

Workers are alienated not only during working hours but

also during leisure time in modern industrial society.
During Marxian period when he explained alienation in
1844, workers had to work around twelve to sixteen
hours, with no or little leisure time if they have any. Due
to subsistence wages and appalling living condition
workers had no means of self fulfillment.
Contrary to Marxian period, with the advance of
industrial society the wages of the workers have
increased and also they have been granted leisure time
through regulation on working hours.

Andre Gorz ; Herbert Marcuse

Alienation from work and leisure
4.

It

appears that the opportunity for self-fulfillment in

leisure has greatly increased but many Marxists argue that

this opportunity has not been realized.
5.

Gorz and Marcuse present such pessimistic view of

possibility of self-fulfillment during leisure period. They
picture a mindless 'happy robot' compulsively chasing
'false needs'.

Andre Gorz ; Herbert Marcuse Alienation

from work and leisure

Andre Gorz

French journalist and Sociologist

Capitalist society shapes leisure
activity in the same way as it
shapes working day.
Creates passive consumers finding
satisfaction in consumption of
products of manufacturing sector
and entertainment industries.
Satisfaction in these products is a
poor substitute for self-directed and
creative leisure.
Hence labour remains deprived of
true self-fulfillment hence alienated
during leisure time too.

Herbert Marcuse

.
.

American Sociologist
One dimensional man (book)
Applies to both capitalist and East
European communist societies.
Self-fulfillment during leisure time
is based on and directed by 'false
needs' which are largely imposed
by a mass media controlled by the
establishment.
The people recognize themselves
in their commodities, they find
their soul in their automobile , hi-fi
set, split-level home, kitchen
equipment .

Criticism of Marx theory of

alienation

Marx's theory is based partly on a rather vague picture of what

man could and ought to be perhaps it says more about the
values of particular sociologists than it does about man's
essential being

Marxian perspectives are very general. They tend to lump

together diverse occupations and leisure activities and created
a simple model of 'man in industrial society Robert Blauner

Marx and Marxists tend to

members of society. If people
liesure, there is a tendency to
of false class consciousness
Blauner

ignore the meanings held by

claim fulfilment in work and/or
dismiss their views as a project
- Goldthorp and Lockwood &

ROBERT BLAUNER ALIENATION AND

TECHNOLOGY
1.

Wrote the article Alienation and freedom

2.

Critical to Marxian treatment of uniform alienation across different sectors of

industries irrespective of the work nature and technology and the concept of false
consciousness.

3.

Considers workers attitudes as a valid measure of their level of alienation. If

workers express satisfaction with their work, they are not alienated.

4.

Associated the degree of alienation with the type of technology rather than the
relations of production.

5.

Examined behaviour and attitudes of manual workers in the printing, textile,

automobile and chemical industries.

6.

Blauner divides the concept of alienation into four dimensions

1.

Powerlessness - The degree of control workers have over their work;

2.

Meaninglessness - the degree of meaning and sense of purpose they find in

work;

3.

isolation - the degree to which they are socially integrated into their work;

4.

self-estrangement - the degree to which they are involved in their work.

Robert Blauner Alienation and

Technology
7.

Out of the four sectors, Blauner has found workers of printing sector
(study was conducted at a time when mechanical type setting was
not widespread) as non-alienated along the four dimensions. Textile
workers experience powerlessness and meaninglessness but not
isolation and self-estrangement. Alienation is found in its most
extreme form in assembly line production in the auto-mobile industry
where they experience powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation
and

self-estrangement

all.

In

chemical

industry

because

of

automation, workers do not feel powerlessness and also nonalienated in terms of other three dimensions.

Goldthorpw and Lockwood Work alienation

Affluent worker study in Luton

Do not see workers' attitude and behaviour as a function of

production technology. Instead, the way workers define and give
meaning to their work largely accounts for their attitudes and
behaviour.

They found that across the production technology workers defined

work primarily as a means to an end, in particular as a means for
obtaining money to raise their living standards.

Refer

the

affluent

workers'

'instrumental collectivism'.

relationship

to

their

unions

as

M.Seeman - subjective or psychological facet of

alienation
Separated

a variety of different psychological states, which he

measured by attitude scales.

1.

Powerlessness -refers to people's feelings that they cannot influence

their social surroundings,

2.

Meaninglessness is the feeling that illegitimate means are required to

achieve valued goals.

3.

Isolation -occurs when people feel estranged from societies norms and
values.

4.

Self estrangement -refers to an inability to find activities that are

psychologically rewarding.

5.

Normlessness -refers to a condition which perceives absence of norms.