Karl Marx about alienation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Karl Marx about alienation - Essay Example Karl Marx about alienation Alienation of labor occurs only in a capitalist society, where capitalist modes of production exist. Marx identifies four different types of alienation. They are a) the alienation of the laborer from the product, b) the alienation of the laborer from the labor process, c) the alienation of the laborer from his fellow human beings and d) alienation of human beings from human nature. In the capitalist mode of production, the ownership of the product produced by the labor-power of the laborers is not with them; rather, it is controlled by the capitalists. Before the upcoming of capitalism, labor was solely part of the laborer and was dependent on him. In such a situation, the laborer had full control over the production and use of anything he produced. In the new system, labor acquired the status of an object of external existence and thus it becomes autonomous. This autonomy gained by the product controls the worker and his labor. This is a form of alienation where the life given to the product by the laborer alienates its creator .As a result; the laborer becomes a commodity like any other product available in the market. The labor-process refers to the process of production. In the time prior to capitalism, the laborers had full control over the conditions in which he works. These conditions include how the work is organized, when to work, how the work affects the physical and psychological states of the laborer and so on. In the capitalist system, the worker lost control over these conditions.