Alienation

Theory as an application to your experiences at work.

Your Job

• What do you like about your job?– What do think are the positive elements of

a good job?

• What do you hate about your job?– What are the worst things about a bad job?

Human Nature?

• Because of how we evolved, people really desire to be creative and produce something (usually with their hands) in a social context.

Alienation

• According to Karl Marx, there are 4 forms of alienation.– Product– Process– Others– Species Being

• These forms of alienation take away our “human nature.”

Alienation from Product

• Estrangement from the things we make– The things we make do not belong to us. – As the worker produces, they are debilitated.

• Estrangement from nature– Workers do not engage environment directly.– Products take on a life of their own.

Alienation from Product

• Alienation

– ?

– Perhaps, we have no connection to the product we produce, so we don’t recognize we should in our typical jobs!

• “Now that’s the best quarter pounder I ever made!”

• Less Alienated– Something I like– Meaningful (product)– Difference in the

world– Accomplish

Something

– Work outside

Alienation from Process

• The mental aspect is stripped from labor.– People do not have control over their work.

• People do not meet their needs directly.– Work is a means to earn wages.– Wages are used to buy the things we need.

Alienation from Process

– Boring• Dead End, Needs to be

different, Tedious, Mindless, Meaningless tasks, Nothing to do

– Bad Management• No Respect, Push you to

work hard, No support, Bosses engage in politics, Do not work Micromanage, Rigid rules, Unjust policies, Opinions do not matter

– Low Wages• No Benefits

– Long Hours• Understaffed

– Not enough hours• Part time

– No Advancement – Interferes with other parts of

life– No free time– Being deployed away from

home

Less Alienation from Process

– Job is interesting• Variation - different• Mentally challenging• Learn new skills• Choices

– Good Management• Respect• Do not expect too much• Help• Fair• Acknowledge work

– Wages• Bonuses

– Benefits• Insurance/Health

Care

– Flexible Work hours• Good Work hours

– Possibility for Advancement

Alienation from Others

• Relations between people become relations between people and objects.– No longer meet our needs through people we

know.

• People treat each other as workers, not as fellow people.

Alienation from Others

• Alienation– Bad Co-Workers

• Work less/lazy• Complain• Conflict• Office politics• Discrimination

– Bad Customers• Make it difficult• Rude (Cell Phones)• Belittled• Don’t cooperate or

understand

• Less Alienated– Get along with co-

workers• Fun• Social• Communication

– Get along with people

– Work with people

Alienation from Species Being

• What it means to be a social being is lost in wage work.– We lose our creative sense of self and do

not identify with our work, but “animal” functions.

– The social nature of making things is taken away since we usually do not know who ends up with the things we make.

Alienation from Species Being

• Alienation– Don’t like Job

• Stress• Unhappy

– Put on "fake smile"– Rather be doing

other things– Takes time out of the

day

• Less Alienated– Job Satisfaction

• Keep busy• Low stress• Fun / feel good

– Something I want to do

– Meaningful (to society/self)

– Keep healthy / physical

Animal Functions

• What do I value in my free time?

– Sex

– Sleep/Naps

– Eating

– Nothing - No Thinking

Species Being in Free Time

• Product– Outdoors / lake

• Process– Creative– Flexible– Stress Free– Relax– No pressure to get things done– No management– No one yelling at you– Am own boss

• Others– Family– Friends– Socialization– Party

• Species– Do what you want or like– Freedom– Independence– Fun– Athletic

Theory

The Framework of Sociology

Sociological Perspectives

• The three “perspectives” of Sociology

• Alienation as an example of theory

Sociological Perspectives

• The “story” of Sociology tends to be placed in boxes.

• While sociologists are associated with certain perspectives, they are more complex that your text suggests.

• To make it easy to understand, Sociology is divided into “perspectives.”

Sociological Perspectives

• Conflict– Society changes as a result of struggles of various groups

against each other as a result of inequality.

• Interactionist– The world is socially constructed - meaning that we interpret

the world around us and act based on those interpretations.

• Functionalist– The elements of society are understood by their role

(function) in maintaining society.

Karl Marx

• Lived from 1818 to 1883

• Political Economist• Studied Philosophy• Associated with the

Conflict Perspective

Classes

• Classes arise out of the ability of one group to take what some else produces.

– Slave owners take the slaves’ labor and what they produce.

– Feudal lords take what peasants produce.

– Workers under capitalism receive wages instead of what they produce.

Conflict Perspective

• Recognizes inequality between groups.

• To understand history and society, we must understand how people use power to their advantage.

• Does NOT assume conflict is inevitable.

Conflict Perspective

• The Conflict Perspective focuses on the inequalities between groups to understand social issues and changes over time.– Genocide in Rwanda in 1994

• Origins in Colonial period• Established one ethnic group as• elite class over another.

– Fundamental Question: • How does inequality spark conflict?

Conflict Perspective

• The Conflict Perspective also suggests changes.

– Informs public policy decisions.

– Studies and participates in social movements.

Max Weber

• Lived from 1864 to 1920

• Historical Sociologist• Critical of Marxists• Associated with

Interactionist Perspective

Verstehen

• Weber also argued that Sociologists should attempt to study their subjects deeply.

• Research should attempt to find the multiple causes of a social issue.

• Sociology is different from “natural” sciences in that it is “interpretive.”

Interactionist Perspective

• Interactionists focus on the “social construction” of the world around us.

• They focus on the meaning that people attach to actions and institutions.

• They also may look at how that meaning is manipulated by people in power (notice the link to conflict theory).

Interactionist Perspective

• The Interactionist Perspective attempts to understand the meanings people associate with their social actions and the social institutions around them.– Genocide in Rwanda in 1994

• Extremist Hutu leaders used radio• programs to dehumanize Tutsis.

– Fundamental Question: • How are Extemist Hutus able to shape • people’s perceptions about Tutsis?

Emile Durkheim

• Lived from 1858 to 1917• Wanted to make Sociology a

science.• Concerned with what held

society together• Associated with the

Functionalist Perspective

Integration into Society

• Social institutions help integrate people into society.

• Some institutions are better than others.– Durkheim used the example of religion to

explain Suicide.• Catholics committed suicide less than

Protestants because the Protestants had greater freedom in their religion.

Functionalist Perspective

• Assumes the natural state is order or equilibrium.

• Attempts to understand the role of various social institutions and practices to maintain that order.

• Institutions and practices that disturb the order are considered deviant.– But even deviance plays a role in society!

Functionalist Perspective

• People who follow the Functionalist Perspective attempt to demonstrate how different social institutions provide a function for society or resolve deviations from order.– Genocide in Rwanda in 1994

• 800,000+ killings stretch courts.• What other mechanisms can be• used to deal with the crimes?

– Fundamental Question: • What social institutions can • reestablish order?

Sociological Perspectives

• Conflict (Marx)– Society changes as a result of struggles of various groups

against each other as a result of inequality.

• Interactionist (Weber)– The world is socially constructed - meaning that we interpret

the world around us and act based on those interpretations.

• Functionalist (Durkheim)– The elements of society are understood by their role

(function) in maintaining society.