Alienation Society And The Individual

The concept of alienation is an umbrella concept that includes powerlessness, meaninglessness, social isolation, cultural estrangement, and self-estrangement. For researchers, the study of alienation is a three-fold task: first, understanding the discrepancy between individual values and actions and general living and working conditions; second, analyzing the overt and latent forms of oppression in social structures; third, accounting for social circumstances that hinder or facilitate individual or collective action against those alienating structures. Alienation, Society, and the Individual provides a timely and broadly representative overview of the most recent developments in alienation research and theory. Alienation, Society, and the Individual makes it clear that alienation research has come of age. Further theoretical developments remain important and as demonstrated In this volume, which revives theoretical debate so as to reformulate classical concepts in view of developments in modern society, the concept of alienation is now increasingly applied to empirical research in a variety of fields. Included here are theory driven evaluations of empirical research on migrant workers, as well as comparative studies on differing liberation ideologies in South Africa. This volume reflects the effects of political developments in Eastern Europe on Marxist alienation theory. While Marxist theory remains important, it is no longer directed exclusively toward criticism of capitalist society. New applications include a critique of Eastern European state socialism, analysis of consumer, rather than capitalist society, and uncommon examples of empirical research carried out within a Marxist framework. The book concludes with a chapter that evaluates recent theoretical and methodological innovations and sets priorities for future research. Alienation, Society, and the Individual offers an unusual combination of theory and practice that make it a state-of-the-art volume. It will be read by sociologists, political scientists, social psychologists, philosophers, and anthropologists.

A high school textbook defining alienation with a discussion of its causes and possible methods of coping with this problem.

The original papers which appear in this volume were initially presented in a series of sessions of the Ad Hoc Group on Alienation Theory and Research at the 1974 World Congress of Sociology in Toronto, Canada. This group was organized by the editors as a result of their longstanding research and teaching interest in the field. The purpose of the Toronto sessions was to provide an international forum where scholars and researchers could come to gether for a personal exchange of ideas and research findings. To our know ledge this was the first forum of its kind concerned specifically with aliena tion theory and research. More than fifty theoretical and empirical papers from thirteen countries and several overlapping disciplines were organized into panels and workshops during the span of four days. The response to these sessions indicates that interest in the study of alienation by philosophers and social scientists continues unabated. The Toronto sessions were organized largely around a fundamental concern for further theoretical development and conceptual clarification in the alienation field. The papers selected for this volume reflect this thematic concern. Although many excellent empirical papers were presented, it was generally felt that meaningful empirical research would benefit from a continued elaboration and refinement of alienation theory. The present collection is consequently geared to problems of meaning, theory, and method. Considerable emphasis is also placed on a critical evaluation of the alienation theme as it has evolved from social philosophy to empirical social research.

First published in 1970, original blurb: ‘Alienation’ is the catchword of our time. It has been applied to everything from the new politics to the anti-heroes of today’s films. But what does it mean to say that someone is alienated? Is alienation a state of mind, or a relationship? If modern man is indeed alienated, is it from his work, his government, his society, or himself – or from all of these? Richard Schacht, in this intelligent analysis, gets to the root of these questions. Examining the concept of alienation in the works of Hegel and Marx, he gives a clear account of the origins of the modern usage of the term. Among the many insights to be gained from this analysis is a clear understanding of Hegel’s influence on Marx in this most crucial area. Mr Schacht goes on to discuss the concept of alienation in recent philosophical and sociological literature, particularly in the writings of Erich Fromm. Here he finds a great deal of confusion, which has resulted in a series of almost universally unquestioned misconceptions. This, then, is a book for all of us who use – and mis-use – the term ‘alienation’, and who are interested in the concepts it brings to mind. The arguments of Professor Walter Kaufmann’s introductory essay provide a useful background for Mr Schacht’s analysis. In this essay, Professor Kaufmann states that ‘henceforth nobody should write about alienation without first reading Schacht’s book.’

Building on the Marxian view of alienation as the inevitable consequence of wage labour that divests human beings of control over their life forces, this book provides insights into contemporary conditions. It explores how alienation is fostered not only by television freak shows and shock music, but also by programmed schooling.

The Hegelian-Marxist idea of alienation fell out of favor after the postmetaphysical rejection of humanism and essentialist views of human nature. In this book Rahel Jaeggi draws on the Hegelian philosophical tradition, phenomenological analyses grounded in modern conceptions of agency, and recent work in the analytical tradition to reconceive alienation as the absence of a meaningful relationship to oneself and others, which manifests in feelings of helplessness and the despondent acceptance of ossified social roles and expectations. A revived approach to alienation helps critical social theory engage with phenomena such as meaninglessness, isolation, and indifference. By severing alienation's link to a problematic conception of human essence while retaining its social-philosophical content, Jaeggi provides resources for a renewed critique of social pathologies, a much-neglected concern in contemporary liberal political philosophy. Her work revisits the arguments of Rousseau, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Heidegger, placing them in dialogue with Thomas Nagel, Bernard Williams, and Charles Taylor.

This book examines alienation from both a sociological and psychoanalytic perspective, revisiting classic treatments of the topic (Marx, Simmel, Weber) and exploring its relevance to understanding post-modern consumer society. It examines the escapist potentials for good and for ill in modern society - those fostered by commercial interests, and those maintained by individuals and groups as their form of resisting alienation.