Alienation

Related terms; Alienation-effect (Verfremdungseffekt); Alltäglichkeit; The Commodity; Historical materialism – Marxism; Lefebvre; Reification;

In general, alienation refers to the sense of distance from nature, separation from others, and helplessness that is an effect of modern existence since the time of the Industrial Revolution in the West, from approximately 1750 onwards.

In Karl Marx’s writings, alienation is depicted as a condition of human alienation from nature; from other people; and of a person from the products of his/her own labour. The last form of alienation, from the products of one’s own labour, is induced by the exploitation of the worker under capitalism, Marx argues, enforcing an identification of the worker with the commodity value of the products of labour. Ultimately, this is seen by Marx to produce a profound alienation of humans from themselves.

In psychoanalytic theory, alienation refers to the split in subjectivity between the ego cogito and the unconscious, and the recognition that one is not in control of one’s thoughts, actions, and desires because of the existence of unconscious drives brought into play in interaction with one’s social and material environments.

Notes

Mills (2016) points out that Heidegger’s description of alienation differs from those given by Marx and Simondon. Technology is alienating for Heidegger because it distances people from the essence of truth. This is because, according to Heidegger, technology provides its own configuration of truth in the way that beings manifest themselves, for example, as a resource waiting to be exploited, and by doing so conceals from humans their own essence.

For Simondon, there is no necessity for humanity to become alienated from technologies. Technologies connect with the elaboration and satisfaction of biological desires. This is one of the reasons Simondon argues for the need for a technological culture (Mills, 2016: 116). Although the development of technology occurs via the progressive uncovering and utilisation of potentialities, this operation must also be contextualised within a broader account of human progress. The resonance between human and technological progress is achieved via reflexive, philosophical thought which can prevent alienation between humans and technologies by ensuring that technological progress becomes an, “integral part of human progress, by forming a system with man” (Simondon, 2010: 235).

Simondon’s analysis of the problems of industrial modernity was that they were due to technology and culture having become seriously out of phase with one another. This, in his view, led to an emphasis on technocratic solutions, which he saw as dangerous. What he thought was required was a readjustment of cultural values in response to the new technological realities within which they now operated. For Simondon, this did not mean the imposition of pre-existing humanist values upon technological inventions, as proposed by some in the Frankfurt School. Rather, what had to be acknowledged was a need to understand how the dynamic interplay of technological development with culture was productive of new values and desires. (Mills, 2016: 2)

References

Mills, S. (2016) Gilbert Simondon: Information, Technology and Media. London, UK: Rowman & Littlefield International.

Simondon, G. (2010) The Limits of human progress: a critical study, Cultural Politics, 6(2), pp. 229–236. doi: 10.2752/175174310×12672016548405.

Sturken M. and Cartwright, L. (2018). Practices of Looking: an introduction to visual culture, 3rd ed.. New York: Oxford University Press.