Theory of Alienation

 According to Marx, contrary to its claims of ensuring individual freedom, capitalism is characterised by universal alienation. Because any economic agent within a capitalist arrangement is not allowed to act on his own accord, even the capitalist remains alienated within the system. This is why Marx called the capitalists as capital personified, as a capitalist was nothing but a vehicle of acting out of the immanent tendencies of capital itself. Marx’s theory of alienation was extensively developed in his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts. The basic definition of alienation is that something becomes alienating when what is familiar or connected becomes unfamiliar or disconnected. As far as we are not able to act in accordance with the traits of our species, we stay disconnected from our real nature. Thus, if working in a capitalist society impedes our realisation of belonging to our species, then the work becomes alienating. And since all human actors in the capitalist system are equally alienated from their own nature, alienation does not remain a mere subjective feeling, rather escalates into an objective reality.

Through both these theories, Marx drives us into his ideas on exploitation of the working class. While the theory of surplus value describes how does capitalism inflict an economic blow on the working class, the theory of alienation describes the process of their alienation at multiple levels, despite which they need to continue being a part of the process of production for their own sustenance. By describing these theories in great detail, the objective here is to prepare an initial understanding of the readers about the concept of exploitation, from Marxian perspective.

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