Karl Marx's Theory of Alienation - Generally, alienation refers to a situation in which a person becomes indifferent to his family and society and tries to free himself from the web of social relations. . The word separation is the Hindi version of the English word "alienation". It is also called by many nicknames, such as estrangement, Virasata, Virasaj etc. Initially the word isolation was used for a mad person. But later the word alienation was used for separation or separate feeling towards oneself. Like the class struggle, Karl Marx also propounded the 'theory of separation', which holds special importance in sociology. Marx put the concept of his separation theory in relation to the physical world, which made an important contribution to sociological concepts. According to Karl Marx, “Isolation is that state of the individual in which his own actions become a supernatural force, which is not governed by him but higher than him but against him.”
For Marx, the history of humanity has two distinct aspects, first it is the history of the individual's greater control over nature and secondly it is also the history of the greater isolation of the individual. According to Karl Marx, “Isolation can be described as a condition in which a person becomes a slave to the things created by him and in which he has to struggle in the form of foreign or alien forces. This concept is the main essence of Marx's early philosophical writings, but he considers it to be a social phenomenon rather than a philosophical issue.
Form of Alienation - Marx expressed his views related to separation in his work 'Economical Manuscript' in 1844 AD, which Meszaros presented a brief form of Marx's ideas of separation in 'Marx's Theory of Alienation'. Meszaros gave four main aspects of Marx's concept of separation, whose details are given below.
(1) Alienation of the goods produced - Meszaros writes that - Marx says that the worker knows that whatever he produces is not his. As a result, a feeling of alienation arises in the worker towards the goods produced. The worker plays a small part in the process of production, so he cannot call himself the sole producer of the commodity. The laborer has no control over the buying and selling process of the commodity. All these conditions create alienation in the worker towards the product produced.
(2) Marx has described the second form of alienation as a feeling of alienation of the individual towards himself. You say that due to division of labor in capitalist system, labor is a small part in the process of production. He sells his labor and does the process of production again and again throughout his life, due to which his distaste for labor increases progressively. Marx called labor a human action which defines the humanity of man. In the capitalist system, labor is not a human activity but a means of sustaining livelihood. Work related freedom of the worker is lost, which creates alienation in the individual. Labor becomes an external compulsion instead of internal satisfaction, which creates separation in the individual.
Marx has expressed this separation as follows- 'Labour is external to the worker, that it is not a part of his nature, as a result he does not find himself satisfied in his work, but denies himself, feels poverty. It is not able to develop physical and mental energy, but the laborer experiences physical fatigue and mental weariness. His work is not voluntary but imposed, it is forced labor. In the end, the alienation feature of the work is manifested by the fact that the work is not for him but for someone else and he is not in the work associated with himself but with someone else.'
(3) Separation from mankind- The third form of alienation which Marx suggests, according to him, 'The nature of division of labor and production in the capitalist system creates alienation in the individual towards mankind. Marx writes that the worker has to face the conditions necessary for his existence by living in the society. In the capitalist system, his dislike develops so much that he starts feeling alienated not only from himself but also from his family members, friends, human race. The community that moves away from all these types of members is another. He is so exploited that he becomes inactive towards his life and the world. The capitalist system makes the worker a passive slave to money and the means of production, and this inaction creates alienation in the individual towards the human race.
(4) Separation of the individual from the individual - The fourth form of separation which Marx has told is only a decision of the third type. According to Marx, when the individual is isolated from his natural and social characteristics, then every individual also comes in a state of isolation from other people of the society.
Marx has written the above-described form of separation in a way according to the sociological perspective. In sociology the complete society is studied as individual with individual, group with group. Marx has described similar types of separation at the level of the individual, at the level of the group and at the level of the group. In a way, the capitalist system creates imbalance in the individual, groups and society by creating different types of separations in the society.
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