Marx’s Alienation of Labour
There is deep substance and many common themes that arose throughout Marx’s career as a philosopher and political thinker. A common expressed notion throughout his and Fredrick Engels work consists of contempt for the industrial capitalist society that was growing around him during the industrial revolution. Capitalism according to Marx is a “social system with inherent exploitation and injustice”. (Pappenheim, p. 81) It is a social system, which intrinsically hinders all of its participants and specifically debilitates the working class. Though some within the capitalist system may benefit with greater monetary gain and general acquisition of wealth, the structure of the system is bound to alienate all its participants. This paper intends to evaluate Karl Marx’s theory of alienated labour. In doing so it will demonstrate how capitalism both a century and a half ago, and to this very day, produces and also perpetuates alienation within the work environment. Though Marx’s theory of alienation is not without its flaws, the fundamental backbone to his theory is still relevant to this day. A critical element is to take Marx’s basic premises of alienation into context and realize that the capitalist world has evolved tremendously since Marx’s work during the early years of Industrial Revolution.
Marx’s concept of alienation can be defined as “the distortion of human nature that is caused by the domination of the worker by the ‘alien will’ of the capitalist” estrangement (Ritzer, p. 55). A key element to his theory of alienation focuses on the individual’s experience of feeling powerlessness when they fail to realize their own human potential, which in turn causes false consciousness. His theory is based upon his dialectics and on the totality of reciprocal relationships to nature and to other individuals within society, which are motivated and perpetuated by the need for material things.
Marx’ theoretical concept of alienation was forged during his transition from the Critique of Hegel to the Critique of Economic philosophy. It was during this time that the issues of labour and class became central to his theories. In Marx’s early writing’s, specifically ‘The Economic Philosophical Manuscript’ written in 1844, he presented the types of alienation which where interdependent and rooted in the productive labour of capitalism....
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Knowles perfectly times Finny’s fall as the “summer session” is ending and the “winter session” is beginning. This fall shows the clear break between the two sessions and the two seasons. Knowles also has an interesting play on words with the falling of Finny, and fall the season. Knowles purposely does this because, as Foster states, “autumn [symbolizes] decline.” This is shown in A Separate Peace, because there is a clear decline in Finny’s character. He is originally described as very athletic, but with the fall, he can no longer can participate in sports, as the doctor states, “Sports are finished for him.” This is perfectly timed for the seasons to show how the seasons affect people in novels, such as autumn showing the initial decline from the Finny we see in the summer
With the emergence of an industrial working class that arrived from the farms and countryside new theories and ideologies about the political economy began to appear. Karl Marx, a political philosopher during this time, introduced the idea of "alienation of labor". His theory proposed that labor has the ability to create a loss of reality in the laborer because the laborer himself becomes a commodity or object due to the nature of work. In terms of the roles of women it can be argued that the effect is even greater due to the limited choices of work available. This theme is expressed in literature through the writings of Gilman and Alcott.
Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. "The Communist Manifesto." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 769-773.
Southwest has done what others in its industry seem to struggle to do, which is to make flying fun. This has been the cornerstone for how the Southwest operates, thinks, and plans. Many of the policies, procedures, and practices Southwest has used are aimed directly at providing patrons with a unique, fun, and enjoyable experience. This value and the effort Southwest has made to place customers at the forefront of its plans and strategy, has paid off as the company is one of the most popular and well-respected in the transportation industry.
individuals, society, or work. Some sociologists believe that alienation is inevitably produced not by the individual but by the shallowness and the lack of individuality in modern society. The concept of alienation has been held to account for behaviour patterns. as diverse as motiveless violence and total immobility. Alienation is a state in which the creations of humanity appear to humans as alien objects.
In addition, this mission statement is usually followed in the day-to-day activities of all its employees (Smith, 2004). According to Smith (2004), Southwest Airlines’ mission statement appears to have implications for its employees, and customers. For instance, Southwest Airlines appears to be committed to provide the highest quality of customer service to its customers. It also appears to be committed to provide each employee with what is described as stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and growth. In essence, one might argue that Southwest Airlines believes in the creativity and innovation within its employees in order to improve its effectiveness such as being a low cost carrier (Smith, 2004). According to Chen and Huang (2009), an innovative initiative such as quality management tends to be depended on the knowledge, expertise, and commitment among employees within a particular organization. As a result, there are certain HRM practices based on its culture that appear to encourage knowledge sharing within the Southwest Airlines such as performance appraisal and
Southwest Airline’s greatest strength is their financial stability. They are able to maintain profits even when the industry is in economic crisis. Their financial success is in large part due to their low operational costs. Short haul, point-to-point trips allow them to save time and money. This not only provides faster trips to customers with shorter wait time, but also increase the amount of customer turnover which provides more profitability. Southwest should continue to operate at low costs so they may continue to provide low prices to their customers, since cheap flights is one of the keystones of the company.
To Marx, history d... ... middle of paper ... ... 67 Jon Elster, Making sense of Marx, Cambridge University press 1985 C.Slaughter, Marxism and the class struggle, New Park Publications LTD 1975 Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones etc.. Introductory Sociology 4th edition, Palgrave Macmillan 2002 Gregor McLennan, The Story of Sociology Ken Morrison, Marx Durkheim Weber, Sage publications LTD 1995 Fulcher&Scott, Sociology 2nd edition, Oxford university press 2003 --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] German Ideology, pp.8-13 [2] Karl Marx: Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy, p.150, Pelican books 1963 [3] ibid, p107 [4] Karl Marx: Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy, p.177, Pelican books 1963 [5] Essential writings of Karl Marx; p176; Panther Books Ltd ,1967
Marx’s theory of alienation describes the separation of things that naturally belong together. For Marx, alienation is experienced in four forms. These include alienation from ones self, alienation from the work process, alienation from the product and alienation from other people. Workers are alienated from themselves because they are forced to sell their labor for a wage. Workers are alienated from the process because they don’t own the means of production. Workers are alienated from the product because the product of labor belongs to the capitalists. Workers do not own what they produce. Workers are alienated from other people because in a capitalist economy workers see each other as competition for jobs. Thus for Marx, labor is simply a means to an end.
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Trans. Paul M. Sweeny. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1998.
Bender, Frederic L. Karl Marx: The Communist Manifesto. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ed. 1988.
THE TERM "alienation" in normal usage refers to a feeling of separateness, of being alone and apart from others. For Marx, alienation was not a feeling or a mental condition, but an economic and social condition of class society--in particular, capitalist society.
Because of the conditions that the wage-workers worked in, Marx described it as exploitation. Marx felt that the wage workers were being exploited. The capitalist, also known as the bourgeoisie, were exploiting the wage workers, the proletariats, because of their cheap labor. They were essentially using them to create and increase their own profit. This in turn brought up alienation. Basically, alienation, also known as estrangement, is when a person is separated from their work, what they produce, themselves, and their environment. Marx’s theory of alienation was used to describe workers laboring under the capitalist society. The workers, also known as wage laborers, were commodities—things that are bought, sold, or exchanged in the market. They were selling their labor which means that they were being alienated from what they were doing.
...nvironment. Ultimately, humans are creative, hardworking and productive beings. As we spend the majority of our day at work, we want it to be rewarding and fulfilling. In this theory of alienation, being a worker comes first and being a person comes second. Alienation makes people spend their lives working on things they hardly care about while they make money for someone else as they sacrifice their own interests and goals. Capitalism turns workers into machines and alienates them from their full potential. Workers are not content as they are unable to determine their own paths as they are at the mercy of their employers. Alienation produces boredom, stress, unhappiness, misery and low productivity.
Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. "The Communist Manifesto." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 769-773.