Marx wrote the Economic and philosophic Manuscript, in 1844 Max’s discussion of alienation in “Estranged Labour “one of his parts of the manuscript. Broadly speaking , alienation denotes the establishment of the individual a d the root cause of it is the concept of ‘Fetishism ‘By fetishism he means to suggest that individuals somehow com to disscociate themselves fro. Their own products, whether these be material things or ideas. In this sense these products of humanity ‘own creativity are treated as’ fetishes: they are treated as objects are thus set apart, they are alien and come to dominate people,
The concept alienation ‘occurs a wide variety of disciplines , including , sociology ,social and political philosophy, psychoanalysis existential philosophy and so on In addition it has been to explain ethnic prejudices , mental illness , class Consciousness, industrial conflict , political apathy and extremism
In order to understand Marx ‘s theory of alienation , it is necessary to look the idea of Hegel ‘s alienation , In fact Hegel was the first who introduced the term “ alienation ‘in his work demanded an investigation into abstract philosophical concept and spiritual forces such as consciousness and reason “ Though Hegel beloved that struggle for self emancipation takes place between self –consiousness and abstract force in the external world , Marx thought that this struggle was acted out on the economic front .the hence for Marx , the struggle for -realisation is a material struggle played out on the economic front and this shift replaced Hegel’s abstract struggle in thought ,
The central theme of Marx’s theory of alienation is the idea that man has lost control over his own destiny and sees this control vested in other entities In other words, man who creates society but feels alien from his own creation .Marx’s basic analytic concern was with the structures of capitalism that causes alienation. Alienation has been described by Coser “ as a condition in which Men are dominated by forces of their own , which confront them as alien powers “’ Alienation in domain of work has a fourfold aspect of production , from himself , and from the community of his fellows .
(1) Alienation from the product:
The product of their labour does not belong to the workers, to be used by them in order to satisfy basic needs. Instead, the product belongs to the capitalist who may use in it any way they wish .Marx rightly stated :
The object produced by labour, its products , now stands opposed to it as an alien being ,as a power independent of the producer ….. The more the worker expands himself in work the more powerful becomes the world of objects which he creates in face of himself the poorer he become in his inner life , and the less he belong to himself ,93 In short ,the worker spends his life and produces everything not for himself but for the powers that manipulate him
(2) Alienation from productive Activity :
The second form of alienation discussed by Marx is alienation from productive Activity or the process of production .In this type of alienation “ human beings lose control over the capacity of their Labour to affirm their being and define their -self -existence “’ As Marx puts it ,
However, alienation appears not merely in the result but also in the process of production , within productive Activity itself …. If the product of labour is alienation, production itself must be active alienation ….The alienation of the object of labour merely summaries the alienation in the work activity itself .
Workers here do not work for themselves in order to satisfy their own needs .Instead, they work for capitalists who pay them in return for the right to use the workers in any way they see fit Thus Marx identified two “ hostile groups “ one is the other is the proletariat ‘i.e. working class or labourers .Once object is finished it belongs to the other man who is free to use it in whatever manner he chooses
(3) Alienation from Himself.
The third type of alienation is discussed by Marx is alienation from himself /herself . Workers in capitalist society are alienated from their own human potential .At this point worker cannot fully develop the many sides of his personality .Marx rightly points out
Work is external to the worker … It is not part of his nature : consequently he dose not fulfil himself in his work but denies himself … The worker therefore feels home only during his leisure time , whereas at work he feels homeless “ In work (the worker ) dose not belong to himself but to another person “ This is the relationship of the worker to his own activity as something alien , not belonging to him , activity as suffering (passivity), strength as powerlessness, creation as emasculation , the personal physical and mental energy of the workers , his personal life … as an activity which is directed against , himself , independent of him not belonging to him
Therefore, it can be said that individuals perform less and less like human beings as they are reduced in their work to animals beasts of burden, or in human in the spheres
(4) Alienation from the Community :
The fourth type of alienation discussed by Marx is alienation from fellow human beings and from the human social community. Marx assumed that “ people basically need and want to work cooperatively in order to appropriate from nature what they need to survive . But in capitalism this natural cooperation is disrupted, and people ,often stranger are forced to work side for the capitalist ‘ In this context , Marx stated :
Man is alienated from men .When man confront himself he also confront other men. What is true of man S’ relationship to his work, to himself, is also true of his relationship to other men … each man is alienated from human life.
It can be side on the basis of above question, that the worker is alienated only from himself but from other men, who belong to his community also Each man is alienated from other , and each of the others is likewise alienated from human life .
In short, Marx argues that people are alienated from one another from their products , from the process of production ,and finally from their society .The. root cause of these forms of alienation own is to be found in the way social relations are structured by a social system which is. Organised around the sanctity of the private ownership of the means of production .In capitalist society, such a system dehumanise people into a mere commodity, labour, which can impersonally be bought and sold on the labour market. Thought alienation exists in all societies which have private property of the means of production, Marx argued that only in capitalist society had it reached its fullest, most crippling development.