Lauren Berg
SOC 310
Reading Response #1
10/11/11
Alienation in the Workplace
In the essay Alienated Labor, taken from the Introduction
to Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Karl Marx discusses the
conditions of the labor market, the effects of labor on the laborers, and
issues of money in capitalistic society.
Marx uses many very harsh statements about people working in miserable
conditions, where they do not feel a sense of accomplishment and wellbeing from
their labor. In many ways, his alienation philosophies still are relevant in today’s
society.
One of my
favorite lines from Alienated Labor
is that “working just for money--and not for the creative potential of labor
itself--is akin to selling your soul”. In modern consumerist society, it seems
that a very large amount of the world’s laborers are doing just that. With
industrialization and large factories and sweeping across the globe, it is
inevitable that people are being disconnected from not only from the people
purchasing their product, but disconnected from their labor its self. Increased
control over nature has caused an increased amount of alienation within
society. The prevalence of alienation in the workplace has grown substantially
since prior the industrial revolution. In today’s society the majority of
workers are alienated in the workplace, with select few actually enjoying their
job.
As human
beings, we spend a very large portion of our lives at work. If we career somewhere
that makes us feel alienated and unhappy or unfulfilled, that is a large
portion of our lives that we are have to feel that way. People take alienated
jobs anyways, just as a way to earn money, because often people don’t have any
better options to earn a living.
The only
way to change this unfair system is through the employers. They can give their
employees opportunities for personal growth and to learn, they can allow them
to interact with each other, and they can pay them a fair wage. The employer
has enough power to help make their employees not feel alienated, but most of
them choose not to because they are focused on self-interest.
There are
many great examples of alienating workplaces in the world, but I believe one of
the most alienating environments to work in are the sweatshops in developing
countries. In the film China Blue the
story of people working in jean factories is revealed. Teenagers are often
economically forced to move from rule regions into a city to search for a job
in a sweat factory. They get there with the intentions of making money and
sending some home to their families to help them live a better life. Their
dream is usually undermined by extremely low wages, long work shifts without
overtime pay, and horrible work conditions. They are forced to live in small
rooms with many other people, eat horrible food, live under extremely strict
rules, and spend the majority of their time in a production line doing the same
thing over and over again. They aren’t allowed to socialize with each other
while working or they may be punished. They don’t know if their part of the
production line is important to end product, which causes them to feel as if
their labor is unimportant. They also are not acquainted with any of the
costumers, which causes them feel even more disconnected from their labor. To
know that people are forced to work under such conditions is a very wretched
feeling, but there is no way to stop such factories with consumerism putting
such a high demand on them.
The video footage presented in China Blue was an extreme case of alienation
in the workplace, but there are an endless amount of other examples of
alienation in workplace around the world. In call centers employees are timed for
how long it takes them to answer each call. In fast food restaurants costumers
often hardly pay any attention to the employees at all. Any place where the
employer doesn’t treat the employees with adequate respect, the feeling of
alienation is often felt. In an alienated workplace the “worker’s activity is
not his spontaneous activity. It belongs to another; it is the loss of his
self”(Marx).
Karl Marx was right when he
theorized that with an increased amount of control over nature there would be
an increased amount of alienation in the workplace. The current trends of global
society have caused a large portion people to work in alienating and miserable
positions. This is a very big problem for the world. The world is still
becoming more developed and less in touch with nature, so alienation is going
to become an even larger problem in years to come. With our should and sanity
on the line, I feel that it is important that people attempt to revolt against
the modernization of the workplace and demand to be treated fairly and to not
be alienated. After analyzing this article I have concluded that Karl Marx has
developed important theories that are relevant to todays society and are
worthwhile to study.
Bibliography
China
Blue.
2005. Teddy Bear Films.
Scott
A. Appelrouth, and Laura Desfor Edles. Sociological Theory in the Classical
Era, Second Edition. Pine Forge. 2010.
