So what is alienated labor in accordance to Marx? In simple terms, the whole philosophy may be expressed as the total loss of the reason for existence for workers in the epoch of the capitalized society. The man produces his own failure, since the products of his work may turn against him. This complicated concept is developed in the following way.
Marx differentiates four types of alienation: alienation from the process of labor, from the product, from his own being and from other people. Being simply a detail of the enormous machine the worker has no separate influence and thus his value is minute (Marxists.org).
Alienation from the result of production
Firstly, the preposition of the theory lies in the division of the society into two confronting groups of workers and owners. Since workers are deprived of property, they are doomed to get by unable to make two ends meet and estranged from the fruits of his labor. Marx names a worker a commodity, whose value exponentially diminishes with his producing more goods. Product remains a power independent of the creator and embodies both the worker and the item.
In conformity with Marx the process is named as an “objectification of labor”, which subjugates the worker, making him dependent from the capital. The basis for this phenomenon lies in the fact that applying him to the production, the worker invests his potential in the item, which inherently will never belong to him, and by these means he drains his inner mental and energy resources. To that extent, the only media where the worker really exists is the process of the work. He takes off a part of his being and invests it into the product, which will cover merely his survival in order to produce more goods. There is not self-fulfillment but even denial of his desires and inclinations. On the contrary, the assets for the wealthy cost the worker his individuality, intelligence and senselessness (Marxists.org).
Alienation from the process of production
Alienation from his own being
Thus, being captured in the net of the owner’s will the rare moments when the worker may feel himself safe and free are during the serving the craving of his animal nature or character, which finds its realization in sleeping, eating, having sex in the safe shelter of his home. Actually, the given activities combined with endless labor makes the man experience the devaluation of his humanity and prevailing of the animal instincts, as they are torn from other essential activities of the man.
Alienation from other people
Processing of the objective reality allows a person to prove his belonging to a gender. Nature becomes the product of his creativity and consciousness and fosters his intellectual and sensual life. The ability to contemplate him is utterly important to prove the connection with the other members of his gender. Nevertheless, compelled to estrange the product from his individuality delegating the rights and credits to his employer, the man loses his bonds with other human beings.
In fact, the product of the worker’s alienation contributes a commodity, from which boils down the idea of ‘fetishism of commodities’. Capitalistic society tends to approach a commodity as an item separate from the produces and as a result equivalent only to means of exchange (Cla.purdue.edu). Fetishism here is found in the way a commodity becomes an objective criterion of value and the paramount means of investigating the world. Marx explains that such fetishes are the obstacles from seeing such obvious ideas as the exploitative character of the society and enslavement of an individual.
Work Cited
Marxists.org,. "Glossary Of Terms: Al". N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
Cla.purdue.edu,. "Introduction To Karl Marx, Module On Fetishism". N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
