Alienation
Alienation refers to the negative psychological consequences of existing within a capitalist social system that removes the working classes from the goods that they produce.
Marx's Ideas of Alienation
In the pre-industrial age, a worker would have complete control over the things that they produced. However, after the industrial revolution, labour became divided and people were reduced to performing repetitive roles within a system. Consequently, through the wage-labour agreement, working-class people became alienated from the products that they produced as these products were designed and profited on by others. Additionally, work was no longer rewarding, the proletariat became objectified as replaceable parts of production, and they became disconnected from other workers because of competition.
When talking about the effects of alienation on the worker, Marx makes two key points. First, he compares the worker to a cog in a machine where they are reduced to a function that could be performed by another of its kind, making it replaceable. Second, he outlines how workers sees their work as an unrewarding necessity, which causes them to only feel free when fulfilling animal functions: eating, drinking or making love.
Features of Alienation, Melvin Seeman "On the Meaning of Alienation" (1959)
Powerlessness - The belief by an individual that they are powerless to influence the course of their life. This results in that individual thinking that what they do doesn't matter and that what happens in their lives is out of their control.
Meaninglessness - When the things that an individual is engaged in doesn't give them a sense of purpose.
Social Isolation - A lack of meaningful relationships as a result of not feeling connected to others in their community through shared values, beliefs and rituals.
Self-Estrangement - An individual demoting their personal desires or interests in order to satisfy the expectations and demands placed on by others.