“Karl Marx” main work on alienation is the 1844 manuscript, also known as Paris manuscripts. Alienation is the philosophical term, which was borrowed by Karl Marx from “Hegel” philosophy. However, Marx took it beyond the level of Hegel philosophy, he adopted it to serve his own aims. He adopted the term from philosophy and transformed it in to critical sociological term. The term Alienation means, feeling stranger or eliminated. According to Marx, history of mankind has two aspects; it is the history of growing control of human beings over nature, and history of increasing alienation of mankind.
When individuals in a society are alienated, they feel powerless, isolated and they think that, social world is meaningless. They consider social institutions oppressive, and beyond their control. Marx believed that, all the institutions (religion, state and economy) in capitalist society were marked by the condition of alienation. Alienation is hostile towards mankind in every institution of the world, in which it entangles.
However, he considered alienation in the workplace of vital importance because it is the work which separates mankind from other animals. Marx stated that, labor is the essence of mankind. This statement obligated him to explain, division of labor affect mankind essence. Marx believed that, human beings are the only species in this world, all the other animals are merely objects. He considered human alone as a subject because they are conscious, the quality which do not exist in other species.
Economics alienation under capitalism means that, man is alienated in workplace on daily basis where he/she earn their livelihood. Marx has explained four types of alienation in a workplace in modern capitalist system. Which are as follows, workers are alienated from, product, labor process, fellow workers and themselves.For example, let us compare a clock maker who is specialized in making beautiful clocks, with a man who works in a pin factory, whose work is boring and repetitive who performs all day and every day same task. The man working in pin factory may not even realize that, in what way his task contribute to the final product, he has been alienated from his product. On the other hand, the clock smith loves his job because he recognize his work and the outcome of his work. The man working in factory feel alienated because the whole productive process has been robbed from him, he does not recognize his own creation. He becomes robot, kind of cog in a machine. The division of labor in modern capitalist system has also detached the ties among the workers. They cannot share secret of their work and be proud of their accomplishment because they don’t even know the complete proses of making the product and do not own the product. As a result workers become alienated from their coworkers, they do not understand that, they are collectively responsible for the finished goods which leave the factory. They don’t know one another, they become strangers. They do not have sense of solidarity with one another and loyalty with factory. The worst part is the worker become alienated from himself because before realizing his potential, he is involved in the process of modern capitalist division of labor.
