What is Marx's Theory of Alienation?
MA, Sociology (Freie Universität Berlin)
Date Published: 06.05.2024,
Last Updated: 07.05.2024
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Defining alienation
We’ve all probably experienced alienation at one point or another. You might have felt lonely in the city where you live, or feel you lack a strong sense of community at school or work. Perhaps you’ve felt lost when it comes to ascertaining your sense of purpose in life or that you don’t have a clear sense of how to get there. This disconnect from others, lack of genuine engagement in daily routines, and sense of estrangement from oneself is known as alienation. For social theories, alienation is the result of modern life under capitalism — rather than simply innate to the human condition.
The theorist most commonly associated with the concept of alienation is Karl Marx. In his work, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx thoroughly explored the ways that capitalism caused a profound sense of alienation for the proletariat (i.e., those who are forced to sell their labor in return for a wage). As Stefano Petrucciani explains,
In the Manuscripts, thus, the most radical critique against modern society is that of having upended the original and essential human sociality, producing a process of alienation—a process, that is, where individuals exist only for themselves, producing an alterity they do not recognize as their own, and which instead becomes alien to them, extraneous and inimical. (The Ideas of Karl Marx, 2020)
Stefano Petrucciani
In the Manuscripts, thus, the most radical critique against modern society is that of having upended the original and essential human sociality, producing a process of alienation—a process, that is, where individuals exist only for themselves, producing an alterity they do not recognize as their own, and which instead becomes alien to them, extraneous and inimical. (The Ideas of Karl Marx, 2020)
In other words, Marx was adamant that capitalism fundamentally disrupted the ways that people had hitherto related to themselves and their communities. Specifically, Marx observed that the experience of life became alien, extraneous, and inimical under capitalism, producing four different types of alienation: from the process of labor, from the products of labor, from others, and from the self.
This study guide will primarily focus on exploring these different forms of alienation and how they came about under capitalism, along with the relevant theoretical precepts from which Marx derived his ideas. In addition, we’ll briefly cover some adjacently related sociological perspectives of alienation, namely those of Max Weber, Émile Durkheim, and Georg Simmel. Finally, we’ll conclude with some closing thoughts about how these figures envisioned alternatives for society that would mitigate this pervasive and profound experience of alienation felt by so many.
Theoretical background
While Marx is known for his critique of capitalism, this was actually situated within a larger project, which sought to understand how different societies were organized throughout history — and where capitalism was only the latest iteration. To conduct this research, he drew a lot of inspiration from the philosophical contributions of Friedrich Hegel and Ludwig Feuerbach. Here, Marx encountered the concept of “estrangement,” which refers to the dialectical process where people or societies experience a sense of separation from previous states or modes of existence. Marx attributed heavily to the capitalist mode of production, even regarding it as one of its distinguishing features from earlier social formations. As explained in the introduction to Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844,
In all three manuscripts emphasis is laid on the “estrangement of labour,” or the “alienation of the labourer” in capitalist society. The category of “estrangement” was prominent in Hegel’s philosophy and particularly in Feuerbach’s philosophic criticism of religion. However, Hegel spoke of the alienation of self-consciousness and Feuerbach of the alienation of the abstract, non-historical and non-class man. Marx speaks of the “estrangement,” or “alienation,” of the labourer. He imparts an entirely new economic, class and historical content to the conception of “estrangement.” ("Introduction," 2012)
Karl Marx
In all three manuscripts emphasis is laid on the “estrangement of labour,” or the “alienation of the labourer” in capitalist society. The category of “estrangement” was prominent in Hegel’s philosophy and particularly in Feuerbach’s philosophic criticism of religion. However, Hegel spoke of the alienation of self-consciousness and Feuerbach of the alienation of the abstract, non-historical and non-class man. Marx speaks of the “estrangement,” or “alienation,” of the labourer. He imparts an entirely new economic, class and historical content to the conception of “estrangement.” ("Introduction," 2012)
(You can find out more about how Marx was inspired by the work of Hegel in our study guide on dialectical materialism.)
For Marx, the reason for alienation under capitalism was that all areas of life are subordinated to the imperatives of capital accumulation. According to Marx, we are stratified into social classes, and whether we’re members of the proletariat or bourgeoisie, we organize our lives around making commodities to sell for a profit. Marx was particularly concerned with the effect this had on the working masses who toiled their lives away for a wage to afford life’s necessities. As Marx explains,
The worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and range. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates. With the increasing value of the world of things proceeds in direct proportion the devaluation of the world of men. Labour produces not only commodities: it produces itself and the worker as a commodity—and does so in the proportion in which it produces commodities generally. (1844, [2012])
The worker's labor power itself becomes commodified under capitalism as their employers buy it, alongside other raw materials, to produce commodities for a profit. This, for Marx, constitutes an act of objectification which leads to a sense of estrangement, or alienation that permeates the process of labor, the products of labor, relationships with others, and the relationship with the self. In the following sections, we’ll explore each of these four categories in more depth.
(To read more about why Marx believed wage labor under capitalism was inherently exploitative, check out our study guide on the labor theory of value.)
The four dimensions of alienation
Alienation from the process of labor
First and foremost, workers under capitalism experience alienation from the process of labor itself. As Richard Schacht summarizes in Alienation,
Marx suggests that labor should be an activity through which man "fulfills himself," and "develops freely his spiritual and physical energies." It should be itself "the satisfaction of a need," rather than a mere means through which other needs can be satisfied. Above all, it should be "voluntary" and "free," a man's "own work," "his own spontaneous activity." [...] The paradigm of such activity would seem to be artistic creation, or at least some form of activity in which craftsmanship can be exercised. (1970, [2015]; Marx, 1844)
Richard Schacht
Marx suggests that labor should be an activity through which man "fulfills himself," and "develops freely his spiritual and physical energies." It should be itself "the satisfaction of a need," rather than a mere means through which other needs can be satisfied. Above all, it should be "voluntary" and "free," a man's "own work," "his own spontaneous activity." [...] The paradigm of such activity would seem to be artistic creation, or at least some form of activity in which craftsmanship can be exercised. (1970, [2015]; Marx, 1844)
Under capitalism, production stands in stark contrast to the above description of labor as a creative, fulfilling, and voluntary act.
As an example, let’s look at the case of textile production. In an ideal world, dresses are produced by seamstresses who make dresses when they feel like it and are doing so as an expression of their passion and creativity — carefully seeing the process through from start to finish. Under the imperatives of capital, however, the dressmaker must produce dresses at a profitable rate and modify their designs to fit the demands of the market.
What’s more is that today the majority of people who are making dresses for a living are working in sweatshops under exploitative conditions of long hours and low pay, as argued in Liesbeth Sluiter’s book, Clean Clothes (2009). The labor process has been mechanized so that workers are only in charge of repeating a single task, such as cutting the fabric or sewing the buttons — none of which they own or get to choose. The result is that those involved in the dressmaking process are reduced to being cogs in the machine, as replaceable as the machinery that goes into the process. (To read more about how production has changed under modern capitalism, be sure to read our study guide on Fordism.)
For Marx, the process of labor constitutes alienation because workers are not creating for themselves as a form of self-expression. Labor is bought and sold for money, just like commodities. Workers have little — if any — say in the production process. As we will see next, the experience of alienation stemming from the process of laboring under capitalism dovetails into other arenas as well.
Alienation from the product of labor
If a person is alienated from the process of their labor, then it follows that they would also be alienated from the products of that labor. As Marx explains,
The alienation of the worker in his product means not only that his labour becomes an object, an external existence, but that it exists outside him, independently, as something alien to him, and that it becomes a power on its own confronting him; it means that the life which he has conferred on the object confronts him as something hostile and alien. (1844, [2012])
In simple terms, workers are totally estranged from the commodities they produce at work.
Continuing with our dressmaking example: most workers under capitalism are not lovingly sewing one-of-a-kind pieces of clothing to be enjoyed by their friends, family, and community. Rather, they are producing identical pieces of clothing en masse. Because they are often only involved in a single part of the process, they rarely get to see or enjoy the final product themselves. And just as workers rarely have much control over the labor process, they often don’t have much say in the kinds of products they are producing in the first place — because their priority is earning a wage to live on, not choosing what kind of goods they’ll be making.
In fact, from this perspective, it matters little whether one is producing dresses on the assembly line, bombs, televisions, or cheeseburgers at McDonald's. Spending most of their waking lives at work assembling inane objects — that do not belong to them, mean little to them, and whose final product they rarely get to see — constitutes another significant form of alienation for workers under capitalism.
Alienation from others
Thirdly, when society is organized around accumulating ever more capital through waged labor and commodity production, it alienates members of the working class from one another — even though they share a common experience. In Alienation: An Introduction to Marx's Theory, Dan Swain explains this form of alienation as follows,
Alienation does not merely involve a relationship between workers and their labour; it shapes and colours relationships between everyone in society. People become isolated and divided; they see their neighbours as hostile competitors rather than cooperative partners. The terms of relationships between individuals become coloured by the logic of the capitalist system. Other human beings appear to us through economic categories. We relate to them not directly, but as customers, employers, managers or competitors. (2013)
Dan Swain
Alienation does not merely involve a relationship between workers and their labour; it shapes and colours relationships between everyone in society. People become isolated and divided; they see their neighbours as hostile competitors rather than cooperative partners. The terms of relationships between individuals become coloured by the logic of the capitalist system. Other human beings appear to us through economic categories. We relate to them not directly, but as customers, employers, managers or competitors. (2013)
In other words, since workers are replaceable to employers, who can easily exchange one worker’s labor power for another’s, employees have to compete with one another for jobs.
Returning to the dressmaking factory: workers may have little time to talk and get to know each other due to the strenuous conditions of the job. They might vie against one another in competition for better roles. Meanwhile, middle managers — though technically wage laborers themselves — engage with employees based on their performance in producing commodities, subjecting them to continual surveillance that objectifies those they oversee. And if layoffs happen — despite once spending much of their time together at work — it is as if those individuals were never part of the enterprise.
This sense of competition over jobs and wages often results in division and stratification within the proletariat, even though it is actually in their interest to be united in order to collectively bargain for better conditions. With this sense of competition comes an erosion of community in lieu of an ethos of individualism. When our relations with others are subordinated to the demands of capital, we feel a sense of distrust, insecurity, and isolation from others that ultimately permeates our lives outside of work as well.
Alienation from the self
Finally, alienation under capitalism culminates in a disconnect from ourselves and our true nature. For Marx, human beings are defined by their powers to self-actualize, create, and pursue progress. Marx viewed these tendencies as the impulse that propels human history forward. Yet, when individuals are coerced through the necessity of earning a wage to spend so much of their time laboring and being exploited in the service of capital, this potential is diminished. As Marx observes,
This relation is the relation of the worker to his own activity as an alien activity not belonging to him; it is activity as suffering, strength as weakness, begetting as emasculating, the worker’s own physical and mental energy, his personal life or what is life other than activity—as an activity which is turned against him, neither depends on nor belongs to him. Here we have self-estrangement, as we had previously the estrangement of the thing. (1844, [2012])
As a result of these conditions, Marx argues that the proletariat become alienated from their inner essence and inhibited from pursuing paths that truly align with their most authentic selves. Instead, their imaginations are limited to what will pay the bills at the end of the day. Instead of realizing their true potential as creative beings, the proletariat spend much of their working lives in the service of making their bosses richer.
This kind of alienation is bolstered by the fact that, in capitalist societies, workers often internalize ideologies and cultural norms that benefit the interests of the capitalist ruling class. Such ideologies include embracing hustle culture and viewing the inability to find a vocation as a personal failure.
You can read more about this in our study guide on cultural hegemony.
Additional perspectives on alienation
While in classical sociology alienation is most closely associated with Karl Marx, other foundational figures in the discipline had their own perspectives on this topic. In the following sections, we will briefly cover some additional perspectives on alienation stemming from modern life, as put forth by Émile Durkheim, Georg Simmel, and Max Weber.
Émile Durkheim and anomie
In his 1893 book, The Division of Labour in Society, Émile Durkheim developed the concept of anomie, which refers to the breakdown of moral standards, social norms, and communal bonds as a consequence of the modern condition. He observed that cities seemed to make people more inclined towards deviant behaviors and violence. He attributed this to the rise in anonymity between residents despite living in closer proximity than ever before. As Alexander T. Riley describes it in The Social Thought of Émile Durkheim,
It is when the normal, external forces that regulate and limit our desires are overthrown by the sudden manifestation of economic and/or prestige resources radically out of line with our customary levels of these resources that suicidal risk is increased. When the norms that govern our desiring are sundered, we are in normlessness, or anomie. (2014)
Alexander T. Riley
It is when the normal, external forces that regulate and limit our desires are overthrown by the sudden manifestation of economic and/or prestige resources radically out of line with our customary levels of these resources that suicidal risk is increased. When the norms that govern our desiring are sundered, we are in normlessness, or anomie. (2014)
Durkheim saw conditions associated with rapid industrialization — such as high rises, crowded public transportation, technologically mediated social interactions, and the faceless masses working in factories — as producing this kind of bleak new social reality. As a result, people became isolated, lost a sense of meaning and identity, and even committed suicide at higher rates due to their feelings of anomie.
Georg Simmel and money exchange
The urban sociologist, Georg Simmel, was particularly interested in the ways that the rise of the metropolis reconstituted social reality. In The Philosophy of Money (1900), he writes about how under capitalism, people’s interactions were increasingly mediated by money. As Simmel describes in the book,
… the inhabitants of a modern metropolis are independent in the positive sense of the word, and even though they require innumerable suppliers, workers and co-operators and would be lost without them, their relationship to them is completely objective and is only embodied in money. (The Philosophy of Money, 1900, [2011])
George Simmel
… the inhabitants of a modern metropolis are independent in the positive sense of the word, and even though they require innumerable suppliers, workers and co-operators and would be lost without them, their relationship to them is completely objective and is only embodied in money. (The Philosophy of Money, 1900, [2011])
In other words, as people flocked to cities, he observed that they began to pay for goods and services they might have otherwise taken care of at home while living on farms, as they had in pre-industrial times. Thus, money exchange became a central dimension of social interactions in modern society. This, in turn, had numerous effects on social interactions, our sense of identity, and more. As Horst J. Helle summarizes it in The Social Thought of Georg Simmel,
The introduction of money has brought about such results in the economic world. It has liberated the individual from the narrow bonds of his guild and even from those of his national group and has created a world-economy; but, on the other hand, it has favored an economic egoism in all degrees of ruthlessness. The wider the economic sphere for which a man produces, the less does he know his customers and the more is his interest exclusively directed toward the price that he can make them pay. The more impersonal his relations are with the consumers, the more are his efforts directed toward the purely financial results of his labor. (2014)
Horst J. Helle
The introduction of money has brought about such results in the economic world. It has liberated the individual from the narrow bonds of his guild and even from those of his national group and has created a world-economy; but, on the other hand, it has favored an economic egoism in all degrees of ruthlessness. The wider the economic sphere for which a man produces, the less does he know his customers and the more is his interest exclusively directed toward the price that he can make them pay. The more impersonal his relations are with the consumers, the more are his efforts directed toward the purely financial results of his labor. (2014)
Money, therefore, made people more independent and gave them more agency. However, it also changed the way strangers in cities related to each other as one’s treatment might be conditional on whether there’s pay involved. The phenomenon of care work provides a case in point. In situations where duties like house cleaning, eldercare, or childcare would be integrated into everyday life in traditional societies, under capitalism these roles are often outsourced to paid helpers. This creates alienating social interactions where care workers perform emotional labor for a wage. For Simmel, this alters social relationships, as it can be difficult to tell whether one’s treatment is due to their need to earn money or because they really care about and feel a bond with that person.
(For more on the topic of care work under capitalism, check out our study guides on Marxist feminism and social reproduction.)
Max Weber and disenchantment
Max Weber is a key figure associated with the founding of the discipline of sociology. He wrote texts such as The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904), which focused more on the role of norms, values, and religion in shaping society than Marx’s critique of political economy. In line with the rapid changes society underwent in the modern era, as well as rationalization and secularization, Weber observed that people were increasingly undergoing a process he called “disenchantment.” As he described it in his lecture, “Science as a Vocation” (1917),
The fate of our age, with its characteristic rationalization and intellectualization and above all the disenchantment of the world, is that the ultimate, most sublime values have withdrawn from public life, either into the transcendental realm of mystical life or into the brotherhood of immediate personal relationships between individuals. (Weber, in Max Weber’s ‘Science as a Vocation,’ [2023])
Edited by Peter Lassman, Irving Velody, and Herminio Martins
The fate of our age, with its characteristic rationalization and intellectualization and above all the disenchantment of the world, is that the ultimate, most sublime values have withdrawn from public life, either into the transcendental realm of mystical life or into the brotherhood of immediate personal relationships between individuals. (Weber, in Max Weber’s ‘Science as a Vocation,’ [2023])
Practices of science, bureaucracy, and centralization of the modern state apparatus — also associated with modernity — seeped into everyday life as people were increasingly separated from nature and a sense of wonder that played more heavily in understanding the world during pre-industrial times. As a result of this shift towards attempting to control and objectify the world around us via rational scrutiny and standardization, Weber argued that people sacrificed a sense of deeper meaning and sacredness of life.
Marx’s antidote to alienation
As we have seen, capitalism — whether directly through wage labor or indirectly through industrialization and modern conditions — produces profound and multiple forms of alienation. Because we must subordinate our relations to ourselves and others to the imperatives of capitalism, we are left feeling more isolated and disconnected from a meaningful sense of community and connection to the world around us.
For figures like Durkheim, this leads to a social breakdown and even a rise in suicide rates. Marx and Engels, however, theorized in The Communist Manifesto (1848), our innate desire for self-actualization and progress would lead to the eventual overthrow of the capitalist system that produces feelings of alienation and inhibits our full potential. Marx argued that it could be possible to organize society in such a way that would foster connection and meaning instead. In particular, he looked to socialism as the antidote to capitalism.
When the means of production are collectively owned, he suggests, what we produce is directly produced to fulfill the needs of the community — rather than to endlessly accumulate more wealth for its own sake. Therefore, the labor process and products of labor become more meaningful to workers, as they are working directly and tangibly in the service of our communities. Furthermore, under socialism, Marx believed we’d have more free time and financial security, especially as technology could be mobilized to facilitate this process. This would foster, he argued, more cooperative working relationships with others, and afford us more time to do the things we genuinely love to do. Consequently, we would feel less alienated from those around us and ourselves.
Further reading on Perlego
Bullshit Jobs (2018) by David Graeber
Work Won’t Love You Back (2021) by Sarah Jaffe
How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First Century (2019) by Erik Olin Wright
The Problem with Work (2011) by Kathi Weeks
Abolish Work (2014) by prole.info
What is alienation in simple terms?
What is an example of alienation?
Who are the scholars associated with the concept of alienation?
Bibliography
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Helle, H. J. (2014) The Social Thought of Georg Simmel. SAGE Publications, Inc. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1004730/the-social-thought-of-georg-simmel
Marx, K. (2012) Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Dover Publications. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/110163/economic-and-philosophic-manuscripts-of-1844
Marx, K. and Engels F. (2014) The Communist Manifesto. HarperTorch. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/602671/the-communist-manifesto-pdf
Petrucciani, P. and Parietti, G. (2020) The Ideas of Karl Marx: A Critical Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3480631/the-ideas-of-karl-marx-a-critical-introduction
Riley, A.T. (2014) The Social Thought of Emile Durkheim. Sage Publications Inc. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1015021/the-social-thought-of-emile-durkheim
Schacht, R. (2015) Alienation. Psychology Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1642902/alienation
Simmel, G., Frisby, D., and Bottomore, T. (2011) The Philosophy of Money. Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1608671/the-philosophy-of-money
Sluiter, L. (2009) Clean Clothes: A Global Movement to End Sweatshops. Pluto Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/664907/clean-clothes-a-global-movement-to-end-sweatshops
Swain, D. (2013) Alienation: An Introduction to Marx’s Theory. Bookmarks E Books. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1294601/alienation-an-introduction-to-marxs-theory
Weber, M. "Science as a Vocation" (2023) in Lassman, P., Velody, I., and Martin, H. (eds.) Max Weber’s ‘Science as a Vocation.’ Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4140474/max-webers-science-as-a-vocation
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MA, Sociology (Freie Universität Berlin)
Lily Cichanowicz has a master's degree in Sociology from Freie Universität Berlin and a dual bachelor's degree from Cornell University in Sociology and International Development. Her research interests include political economy, labor, and social movements. Her master's thesis focused on the labor shortages in the food service industry following the Covid-19 pandemic.