Marx's theory of alienation in contemporary retail work

Sociology: Karl Marx's Theory Of Alienation

Sociological Theory: The Concept of Alienation

Alienation can be defined simply as the phenomenon whereby people feel like foreigners or aliens in the world or society in which they live (Marx, in Calhoun, 2012; University of California, San Diego, 2006). The concept of alienation is based on the ideology that people were living in harmony at some point in the past before something just happened, creating some form of enmity between humans and nature, and leaving them feeling like aliens in their own society. Karl Marx applied this concept of alienation to the theme of labor and work. He argued that under the capitalist system, which allows for private ownership of property, society is divided into two distinct classes -- the property-owners and those who do not own property and spend their lives working for the property-owners. Under the system, the workers get increasingly alienated from the world and suffer impoverishment as their employers get richer. The workers are denied the opportunity to own or even use the value produced by their labor. The property-owners, who own the factors of production, do everything in their power to ensure that they make use of the full value of their workers. In the end, the worker becomes estranged, develops this strong feeling of mistrust and is frustrated by the fact that he is continually contributing to the wealth of a world to which he does not belong. The workers thus become alienated from i) the products of their work, ii) the act of production, iii) the species being, and iv) other workers (Marx, in Calhoun, 2012). This text uses the context of contemporary American society to assess how true Marx's theory is. I will use my personal experience as a full-time attendant in a large retail outlet to examine the applicability of each of the four types of alienation above.

Alienation from the Product of One's Labor

In this case, the worker becomes estranged to the product of his work because he feels that it (the product) does not even contribute to his own personal life -- it only adds value to the bourgeois, and the greater world of property-owners that he (the worker) is not even part of (Marx, in Calhoun, 2012). The worker feels alienated from this product because he has no say over its design, both as a producer and as a consumer -- the property-owners control the workers' labor, the design of the product, and the mode of production and always strive to use these to shape consumer preferences in order to make profit.

Well, I'd say this fits in perfectly in my case -- I carry out a wide range of duties in my position. The main ones include arranging products neatly on the shelves and assisting customers locate products within the store. My work, therefore, involves provision of services as opposed to products -- alienation from the 'product' in this case results from the fact that despite the immense role I play in ensuring that customers are properly-attended to and that they maintain their loyalty to the company, the company still reaps all the profits, with no recognition for my individual efforts.

Alienation from Production Itself

The worker becomes estranged from the production process simply because it patterns work as an endless sequence of meaningless, trivial, repetitive, and discrete motions yielding very little satisfaction and value to the performer (University of California, San Diego, 2006). In my case, alienation from the art of production comes from the thought of having to wake up every day and spend twelve hours doing the same monotonous act of wiping dust off shelves and re-arranging the same commodities I arranged the previous day.

Alienation from Other Workers

The capitalist owns and controls the worker's labor, and puts his own profit motive above the needs of the worker. As a consequence, the worker perceives him as a hostile alien, and becomes estranged from the entire capitalist community (Marx, in Calhoun, 2012). In my case, this kind of alienation arises from the fact that the company only cares about making profits, with total disregard for the workers' social well-being. When the manager, for instance, posts me to the storage room, where all I do is carry out stock-taking, with no opportunity to talk or interact with customers and other employees, despite knowing that this is what I enjoy doing, I become alienated. The same is the case when a supervisor shouts at employees to stop talking and concentrate on their work. Both symbolize the company's disregard for their workers' social well-being.

Conclusion

Judging from my personal experience at the workplace, I am inclined to support Marx's theory of alienation. All the same, I believe the degree of alienation varies with the organization. For instance, another employee in the same position in a different retail store may not be as alienated from their work as I am, perhaps because their company has better employee policies. Based on my experience nonetheless, I would argue that non-union jobs are likely to be more alienated than union jobs. Unions give workers the numbers to unite and fight together against the society that exploits them (PSL, 2013). People are better-placed to overcome oppression if they struggle and fight together.