Alienation

From Geography

Alienation is a theory written by Karl Marx. The theory of alienation means that people who are working can be estranged from themselves, their work and their own life. The capitalism is one of the aspect that leads to alienation. Alienation is an underpinning for the critique against the capitalism as an economic system.

The working people get the feeling they lose control over their lives because they lose control over their work. Human beings are autonomous creatures that need social aspects within their work. In big industrial companies workers are seen as a number that produces goods that makes profit for the company. But the workers are human beings what means that they want to be seen as an human being with social contact and feelings for what he’s producing.

This was for Karl Marx a reason to conclude the capitalism has to be abolished as an political system. Not only the political aspect is important in capitalism, but also the social en economical aspect are important to make capitalism complete.

References:

Bramann J,n.d.,Marx: Capitalism and Alienation, http://faculty.frostburg.edu/phil/forum/Marx.htm, 5 October 2010.

Published by Robbert Vossers (4080939) and Thijs Koolhof (4048385)