Alienation

Alienation may be described as a condition in which men are dominated by the forces of their own creation. This is the most important aspect of Marx theory of class struggle. To Marx, all major institutions in capitalist society such as religion, state, political and economic are marked by a condition of alienations. According to him alienation confronts man in the whole world of institutions in which he is enmeshed but alienation in the work place assumes important because man was above all.

There are Four Fold Aspect of Alienation;

1. Man is alienated from the object he produces 
2. From the process of production 
3. From himself 
4. From the community of his fellows

"The object produced by labor, its product, now stands opposed to it as an alien being, as power independent of the product". However, alienation appears not merely in the result but also the process of production itself with in the productive activity itself.

Being alienated from the object of his labour and from the process of production, man is also alienated from himself, he can not fully develop many sides of his personality. "work" is external to the workers. It is not part  of his nature. Consequently he does not fulfill himself in his work but denies himself.

The worker therefore fells himself at home only during leisure time, whereas at work he feels homeless. Marx says; in work the worker does not belong to himself but to another person.

Finally alienated man is also alienated from the human community. Man is alienated from other men, what is true of man’s relationship to his work and to himself, is also true of his relationships to another men. Each man is alienated from other. 

Conclusion: 

The economic exploitation and inhuman working condition leads to increasing alienation of man. Alienation results from a lack of sense of control over the social world. The social world confronts people as a hostile thing leaving them ‘alien’ in the very environment they have created.