In the terms of modern society, the concepts of anomie and alienation are interpreted in various ways. Some scholars consider them to be equal, when the others introduce them as pieces of different approaches. Over time, the concept of alienation has lost its original sociological meaning, which was invested by Marx a long time ago, and was used to refer to a number of phenomena. The latter includes all sense of separation from society and dissatisfaction with it, which reminds the term of anomie, demonstrated by Durkheim. This paper will reveal the connections between Marx’s alienation and Durkheim’s anomie.
Some scholars argue that both anomie and alienation refer to the concept of escapism. “Escapism is often seen as a dangerous vice that rules people's lives, an unhealthy way of removing oneself from real life and not dealing with problems. Escapism certainly can be these things, but it has a much larger and complex definition than this. It can be healthy, unhealthy and neutral” (Jones 2). Apparently, Marx’s alienation and Durkheim’s anomie stated that the reality and the consciousness are socially affected, however, one should realize the differences between those two approaches.
It is well known that Karl Marx defined four types of alienation and all of them were associated with the labor. The source of alienation, according to this scholar, is the alienated nature of labor, because it is a major work of human activity in which one realizes oneself. Marx emphasized a holistic concept of alienation of human activity, where the person finds oneself in the work and the results of it, but under the reign of wage the individual loses himself and is forced to reject the products of his activities in another sphere, which could be even a hostile one. As it was said above, there are four types of alienation: “Alienation of workers from the products they produce, alienation through the production process, alienation of individuals from their species being (human essence)and alienation of individuals from one another” (Dillon 53). However, one should remember that a huge part of the population becomes dependent not on the machines (like Marx predicted); in contrast, the society becomes an object of manipulation by other people and their influence. Due to its alienated nature of modern society, the mankind is called as a civilization of manipulated crowd.
At this point of time, it is necessary to analyze the concept of anomie. From the philosophical point of view anomie is known as a complex phenomenon, which involves the relationship of the changing society and its impact on individual. In general, anomie is used to indicate the state of society in which there is instability of governing relations between individuals and groups, or when these relationships are completely absent. This leads to the fact that a large part of the population is outside of society, in a state of indifference to him. It reminds the concept of alienation, where the individual is subtracted from the social values. However, one should notice the difference between Durkheim’s and Marx’s theories. The latter insisted on the closed and controlled society, when Durkheim noted that “only in a free society that promotes voluntary bonds between its members, Durkheim suggests, can individuality prosper” (Durkheim and Halls 358).
The theory of anomie, created by Durkheim is based, in particular, on the theory of Thomas Hobbes on the absence of any natural limits of human desires and ambitions. Therefore, restrictions are needed with social origin. The status of anomie is a characteristic of entire society, in which there are no such social restrictions. Durkheim proposed that anomie is an abnormal social form, the result of inability to fully move from mechanical solidarity typical of pre-modern societies, to organic solidarity, which is a distinctive feature of modern society.
According to Durkheim, crime is low in a society, where human solidarity and social cohesion is at sufficiently enough level. However, some of its fragments are isolated. When society collapses, the social deviant behavior and crime, obviously, start to evolve. Society appears in a state of anomie. This provision Durkheim argues as follows. French society over the last 100 years intentionally suffered self-limitation of the factors of human instincts and passions. Religion almost completely lost its influence on people. It reminds Marx’s opinion, where the latter claimed that the religion is opium for th crowd. Traditional professional associations such craft guilds (guilds and corporations) have been eliminated. The government firmly pursued a policy of freedom of establishment and non-interference in the economy. The result of this policy was that dream and desire was not restrained.
In fact, anomie leads to social unrest and misery, and alienation caused social order. In his treatise "Suicide," Durkheim considers the relationship between the number of suicides and social situations inherent to social anomie. For example, Durkheim studies the correlation between the number of suicides in the community and the number of divorces in this society. Moreover, any deviation from the mean considered to be anomic, and it does not matter, whether the number was smaller or bigger.
Alienation to some extent is opposite to anomie. This word denotes a condition in which the social system is forcing people to act against their own will, contrary to their objectives. This, for example, applies to the case of workers, who in order to feed their families, forced hundreds of thousands of times to repeat the same operation at a conveyor belt. When a society suffers from anomie, optimal experience is unattainable, because it is not clear where and what invests psychic energy. When a society is suffering from alienation, a person has no opportunity to devote one’s mental energy to what one really wants.
Works Cited
Dillon, Michele. Introduction To Sociological Theory. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-
Blackwell, 2010. Print.
Durkheim, Émile, and W. D Halls. The Division Of Labor In Society. New York: Free
Press, 1984. Print.
Jones, Russelle. "E 231896582scapism And Luck". Rel. Stud. 43.02 (2007): 205. Web.
