“Working today is an Alienating and Bureaucratised Activity.”
Alienation is one of the more severe criticisms of the capitalist mode of production and is the source of much debate. In an age where essentially every person has or will engage in working for a wage it is important to understand the effects, if any, this is having on people and society. This essay will argue that working today is an alienating and bureaucratised activity but is a necessary factor under the capitalist mode of production. Firstly, this essay will define alienation and bureaucratisation and discuss Marx’s theory of Estrangement and Alienation. Secondly, the causes of alienation will be explored by discussing the effects of bureaucratisation, extreme workplace specialisation, and that alienation is taught in schools. However, this essay will show that alienation is necessary within capitalism because without alienation class consciousness would cause a revolution and therefore workers must be alienated to remain coherent and cooperative.
Firstly, before one can ascertain whether or not alienation exists and has significant impact, one must have an understanding of what the term means. Alienation is a difficult term to define and its meaning is contested. It comes from the Latin alienatio which means, in the social sphere, an “individual’s separation or estrangement from other men, from his country, or from the gods” (Ludz 1975, p11). Marx first defined alienation as the separation of the worker from his means of production (Marx 1844) but it has since been redefined many times. Melvin Seeman (1975) lists six forms of alienation; powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, cultural estrangement, self-estrangement, and social isolation; each being a separate and independent form of alienation (Cited in Meltzer 1978). It can thus be seen that alienation is a complex issue to understand and thus must be defined specifically for the purpose of this essay. Accordingly, this essay defines alienation as the mental and/or physical separation of one person from other people, objects, or tasks. This could include the physical act of isolating ones self from others or becoming emotionally unattached and indifferent to a particular task. Secondly, it is important to understand the concept of bureaucratisation. Bureaucratisation refers to the process in which policy, structure and procedure is introduced into an environment. This usually includes a hierarchical structure, specialist administrative staff, a division of labour, rules and regulations, impersonality, limited and defined objectives, and an emphasis on performance (Udy 1959, Hall 1968). Bureaucratisation is inherent in today’s society and can be seen everywhere; from offices to fast food.
Marx’s Theory of Estrangement and Alienation is one of the more important discussions of the theory of alienation and will therefore be discussed in more detail. Marx was the first to discuss alienation in detail, expanding Hegel’s brief concept, and primarily developed his theories in the Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 specifically referring to labour alienation or economic alienation. As previously explained, Marx defines alienation as the process of whereby the worker becomes separated from the work (Marx 1844). To explain further, in pre-modern times a person may have been known by their profession, a potter or blacksmith for example; however in modern times the work performed by the worker is irrelevant and by no means dictates who the worker is, for instance a toy painter in a factory may not identify themselves as a painter or a toy maker, merely a factory worker. Marx argues that;
“[The worker] does not fulfill himself in his work but denies himself, has a feeling of misery rather than well-being, does not develop freely his mental and physical energies but is physically exhausted and mentally debased. The worker, therefore, feels himself at home only during his leisure time, whereas at work he feels homeless. His work is not voluntary but imposed, forced labour. It is not the satisfaction of a need, but only a means for satisfying other needs.” (Marx 1844, p110)
Therefore the more the worker produces, the less he is valued as a commodity due to his deteriorating circumstances. Furthermore, the more he produces the more alienated he will become because, as Marx argues, the worker puts his life into manufacturing these objects, but he does not own these objects and therefore he does not own his life (University of Regina, 2002). It can be seen through these factors that Seeman’s (1975) six factors of alienation become present at this state; most obviously the worker becomes powerless and meaningless. But it is important to discuss whether Marx’s theories remain relevant in today’s ever-evolving society and work-place environment.
In order to maintain business efficiency and expansion, it is essential that standardised policies, procedures, and structures are introduced. Weber (Cited in Jacoby 1973) argues that all things can be controlled by calculation; furthermore he argues that bureaucratisation is attributed with “precision, stability, discipline and reliability” (Cited in Jacoby 1973, p. 149) which are essential for the calculability of results. Because of this, Weber argues that bureaucracy is the most rational method to control human beings. However, Weber also notes that once a person becomes involved in bureaucracy they become bound to their work because of their economic and ideological condition. He also notes that bureaucracy has the potential to “splinter the soul” (Cited in Jacoby 1973, p. 150) through its dictatorial imposition. Blau and Meyer (1971) add that rigid compliance with policy can cause officials to over-conform and become insensitive or indifferent to situations which necessitate lenience. These clearly demonstrate a worker’s alienation through bureaucratisation.
Extreme specialisation within the workplace is also a major contributor to alienation. A company can be made up of many different workers who each specialise in a particular area. One worker may be involved exclusively in making hamburgers, another in dealing with customers, and another in staff management. Because of the restrictive and repetitive nature of the task, the worker becomes separated and thus alienated from the work (Jones cited in Newton 1978, p.83). Shepard (1969) suggests that increased specialisation reduces job satisfaction and that job enlargement programs help to enhance work attitudes. Newton (1978, p. 83) adds that reduced job satisfaction due to these factors decreases worker productivity and therefore is not in the interest of business. Thus, worker specialisation not only alienates workers and reduces job satisfaction, but also reduces worker productivity.
The process of alienation does not, however, begin in the workforce but in schooling.
However, alienation is a necessary factor to ensure that the current capitalist mode of production is successful. This is because workers must be alienated to ensure class consciousness does not develop and thus cause the overthrow of the bourgeoisie. Torrence (1977) argues that one of the necessary conditions of exploitation is that the proletariat have a low level of social cohesion. As previously defined by Seeman (1973), social isolationism, cultural estrangement and self estrangement are three factors of alienation which produce low social cohesion. Therefore it is in there interest of the ruling class to alienate workers to promote these three conditions and thus ensure that class consciousness would not develop. Marx (1848) argued that once class consciousness developed among the proletariat they would realise the extent of their exploitation and unite against the bourgeoisie
It is also an essential condition of capitalism that workers are alienated to ensure they remain coherent and cooperative with the wishes of the ruling class. The implementation of wage labour ensures that the bourgeoisie can pay the proletariat only enough to exist (Marx & Engels 1848) and thereby maximise profit. Therefore, wage labour is not voluntary but forced and work becomes a means to solely satisfy the needs of subsistence. Marx (1844) argues that this character of labour is alienating and that the bourgeoisie enforce it in order to retain their position of power. This is evident today through the rise of people working multiple part-time or casual jobs (Campbell, Whitehouse & Baxter 2009) instead of full time employment in order to pay for their basic needs. Thus it can be seen that it is necessary for the bourgeoisie to alienate their workers in order to maximise profit and retain their positions of power.
To conclude, alienation is a difficult term to define and understand, it has been used to explain feelings of powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, cultural estrangement, self-estrangement, and social isolation. Bureaucratisation and extreme specialisation both alienate workers and this starts from a very young age within the school system. However, it has also been shown that alienation is a necessary factor in today’s society in order to ensure the success of the current means of production. Marx argued that this is because without alienation, the proletariat would develop class consciousness and revolt against the ruling class and that alienation is thus essential in order to keep the working class coherent and cooperative. Therefore, it has been shown that working today is an alienating and bureaucratised activity, but is a necessary factor under the capitalist mode of production.
References
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Campbell I, Whitehouse G, Janeen Baxter J 2009,
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Marx, K 1964, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, trans. M Milligan,
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Morrison, D 20020, Classroom management linked to lesser teen alienation from school,
Newton, K 1978, “The Division of Labour is Limited by the Extent of the Market: A comment”, American Economist, vol. 22, no. 1, p. 83, viewed on 19 April 2010 from ECONlit database.
Shepard, JM 1969, “Functional Specialization, Alienation, and Job Satisfaction”, Industry and Labour Relations, viewed on 19 April 2010, http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/ialrr23&div=21&id=&page=
Udy, SH 1959, “”Bureaucracy” and “Rationality” in Weber’s Organization Theory: An Empirical Study”, in RH
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Word limit: 1500
Grade: 79 (distinction)
Markers comments: "Good effort and good reading of Alienatoin, but you need to back up your theory and assumptions with substantial evidance and explanations of the social process unerlying the issues you describe. That said, with a good exam exam we might already be looking at a top final result grade."
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