Marx's Ideas of Alienation - Coursework Example

?Introduction Alienation is one of the terms used in sociology which is often associated with the remoteness or separation from any activity or group. Its roots however, are relatively deeper and the word itself is associated with words such as powerlessness, namelessness, and social isolation as well as the cultural estrangement. In its relative significance for sociology, alienation has been described as the distancing of people from experiencing totality in the social world as well as their own self. Karl Marx was one of the earliest to identify this concept and extensively used it within the perspective of workers and their separation from what they produced. Marx however, viewed it from the perspective of capitalist modes of production and the inability of the workers to associate themselves with what they produce. Robert Blauner’s work is considered as one of the important works due to his statistical research performed during 1940’s. Blauner viewed the concept of alienation from the perspective of four different dimensions which are often considered as largely influenced by the work of Marx. Marx critically outlined the concept of social alienation from the perspective of separation of human beings from things which naturally belong with each other. Both Marx and Blauner outlined four different elements or dimensions to discuss alienation. Marx’s Ideas of Alienation Marx’s ideas on alienation are largely based upon the work of Feuerbach who outlined that the idea of God has actually alienated man from the characteristics of human being. Marx took the concept forward and applied the same within the social settings by outlining four different ideas. They are: 1. Workers’ alienation from what he produces because worker is not entitled to determine the features and design of the product which he produces. Marx suggest that it is being done by the capitalists who appoint the actually producer of the commodity. 2. Goods are produced for the profit and not for the social needs thus alienating workers from consuming them or getting the value for their labor. 3. Division of work renders the work as meaningless activity thus reducing work as a tradable commodity rather than considering it as a social effort for survival or betterment. 4. Social relationships of workers and others are replaced with the economic relationships. Blauner’s work One of the important works on alienation and to which every debate on alienation starts is related with the work of Blauner. The main thesis of Blauner’s work is based upon the argument that the overall attitude of workers is an indication of the degree of their alienation within a capitalist mode of production. (Fulcher, and Scott, 2007), Like Marx, he also studies social alienation under four different headings which are: 1. Powerlessness outlining the degree of control workers has on their work. 2. Meaninglessness actually suggests the lack of purpose behind the work and the relative monotony involved in work. 3. Social alienation discusses the overall integration of workers among themselves. 4. Self estrangement outlines as to how much workers actually involve themselves in their work. Blauner’s Characteristics’ Details One of the important characteristics of Blauner’s work is based upon the fact that it is empirical in nature. The use of statistics in the work therefore provided Blauner an empirical insight into the alienation of workers. (Noon, and Blyton, 2007). He primarily performed his studies in printing, textile, car and chemical industry. The details of the characteristics are: Printing Industry Blauner categorized this industry as pre-industrial craft industry and suggested that only 4% of the workers found their work as monotonous and dull. Blauner concluded that the workers in printing industry and their work is not actually objectively alienating and as such the printers have control over their work and they the overall feelings of powerlessness are non existing in workers working in this industry. The overall work situation in the industry suggested that the work of the printers was not externally influenced and the workers were actively participating in union activities as well as into other social activities. Blauner therefore suggested that though the work of printers is a means to life however, it is also self fulfilling in nature too. The work is therefore an indicating of the self hood and identity of the workers working in the industry. Textile Industry Blauner studied the textile industry when it was relatively in its infancy and as such his work was largely influenced by the way industry was thriving at that time. He found out that the workers in textile industry were objectively alienated and their overall work situation was not better than the machine minders. He outlined that the workers in the textile industry were relatively experiencing powerlessness and they had little freedom to movement. This therefore suggested a higher degree of objective alienation but little subjective alienation existed within textile workers. Since textile workers were living in communities with strong influence of religion on their lives, therefore the social interaction among the workers made them objectively alienated only. Automobile Industry The assembly line production nature of the automobile industry suggested that the workers in this industry experienced higher degree of social alienation. According to Blauner, 34% of the manual workers experienced alienation and the same ratio seems to be rising especially for direct assembly line workers. Accordingly, the overall pace of the work was controlled by the machines and there was a complete alienation between the management and the workers with little social interaction between the two. Oil and Chemical Industry His studies in this industry are based upon the notion that since the work is a continuous process of automation therefore workers are not socially alienated and workers take little interest in union activities. This also outlines that the work in this industry is sort of self actualizing in nature and went on to conclude that the alienation can be reduced or controlled through job rotation as well as job enlargement besides introducing production technology. Comparison with Marx One of the key differences between the work of Blauner and Marx is that Blauner used a non-Marxist approach to the issue of social alienation. Marx suggested that the alienation is an objective situation and is largely determined by the relationship of the worker with the modes of production however; Blauner suggested that alienation actually is an attitude to the work and went on to suggest the relationship between technology and alienation. Marx’s analysis therefore relatively limited to the abstraction of the concept of alienation and he specifically did not mentioned technology. Blauner however, suggested that introduction of technology initially increases the alienation however, as the technology progresses and matures, it reduces the alienation. Marx argued that the workers are automatically alienated due to their relative objective economic position however; Blauner suggests that the alienation is a result of attitude towards work. (Giddens, 2009) Blauner seems to borrow the concept of lack of control over the work and workers separation however; the basic ideology of both seems to be differing from each other. Both seems to agree that it is a natural phenomenon for workers to feel alienation however, the relative interpretation of the subject seems to be differing. To Blauner, alienation is a subjective phenomenon whereas Marx views it from the perspective of its relationship with the modes of production under capitalism. Blauner linked alienation with the feelings of the workers however; Marx seems not to be interested in the feelings. Further, Marx could not been able to see the role of technology and how it can actually have an impact on the relationship with the workers and its influence on the workers alienation. Blauner however was successful in outlining this relationship. Criticism of Blauner It is suggested that the work of Blauner has been criticized mainly by the radicals as well as less optimistic individuals. (Edgell 2006).The work of Blauner has been criticized mainly on two important counts. It is believed that his characterization of the workers engaged into certain procedural activities may be true for the process industries however; it may not be entirely true for all type of workers. The relative diversity of the work and the skills required therefore suggest that the workers may not be working as assumed by Blauner but there can be different characteristics of workers too. Studies during 1980s suggested that it is not necessary that the nature of the technology defines the work but the degree of standardization as well as the routinization of the tasks also important role. Control has also been posed on the employees through the computers where even the breaks of the employees are monitored in certain industries thus suggesting that the technology alone may not be the important factor. (Watson, Tony, 2012), Blauner’s work has also been criticized for not taking into account the inequalities as well as opportunities for exploitation within the society. It has been suggested that the social alienation is not actually a subjective feeling but it is rather an objective condition existing within a social structure. Blauner’s work seems to properly negotiate with the Marxian concept of false consciousness where workers are made to believe that they are not socially alienated and drive satisfaction from their work. (Crowther, and Green, 2004) Conclusion Though Blauner’s work borrows some concepts from Marx, however, it cannot be considered as entirely a Marxian approach. Both the approaches are relatively different in their interpretation of the social alienation, and what capitalists actually do to reduce this alienation. Blauner’s work is critically important because it attempted to operationalize the alienation and studied it within the practical perspectives. His studies were backed up by statistical studies, however, he seems to fail to take into account important distinctions and as such missed different points. In nutshell, it can be concluded that Blauner’s operationalization of alienation may not be considered as Marxist in its approach. References Crowther, D. & Green, M. (2004) Organisational Theory. New York: CIPD Edgell, S. (2006). The Sociology of Work - Continuity and Change in Paid and Unpaid Work. London: Sage. Fulcher, J. and Scott, J. (2007). Sociology. Oxford University Press. Giddens, A. (2009). Sociology, 6th edition. Polity Press. Noon, M. & Blyton, P. (2007). The Realities of Work, 3rd edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Watson, Tony, J. (2012). Sociology. Work and Organisation 6th revised edition: Routledge. Read More