Karl Marx is famous for proposing the idea of social conflict, which is based on the presumption that a class struggle is the central driving force of society. The critical point in understanding Marx’s ideas is that the structural relationships of the community are based on the outcomes of the social conflicts that occur under the pressure of the class struggle and unequal resources distribution. Another essential topic in Marx’s study is alienation, which is also related to the social stratification problem.
Both of the mentioned issues play a central role in Marx’s Manuscripts. The German philosopher’s study was highly criticized by many historians, sociologists, and politicians. However, many vital constructs are unwavering and can be applied even today to understand the social structure better and offer helpful tools for social workers to develop positive societal changes. The current paper is devoted to the conflict theory and the construct of alienation analysis and identifying its usefulness for the social workers.
The first point of Karl Marx’s study to analyze is the conflict theory. The study implies the contradiction between different social strata over the matter of resources distribution (Fuchs, 2019). Marx discusses the social dynamic based on the continuous struggle between the rich and poor: people from the lower classes desire to take hold of rich people’s resources. The significant aspect of the theory is that the conflict construct was first addressed as the inevitable part of human society. Marx, discussing the social conflict, develops the idea that the situation when the rights of all the strata are respected is no more than an ideal concept that cannot be practically applied (Fuchs, 2019). Therefore, Marx states that society’s development and changes can be achieved only through stratification struggle.
The main of Marx’s theory postulates touch upon the economic relationships between different social classes representatives. The first point is that the more unequal the resource distribution, the more the extent of the conflict and that the crucial social changes are usually achieved through violence (Fuchs, 2019). The second is the people’s dissatisfaction with the existing resource distribution and understanding that the ruling classes do not respect their economic interests (Fuchs, 2019). Considering mentioned unchangeable truths about human nature, the government is responsible for managing conflicts by applying inequality-reducing tools like taxes, wages, incentives, and regulations (Fuchs, 2019).
Marx addresses capital as another critical theory term that grants the bourgeois class power over the resources (Fuchs, 2019). Marx sees the solution to unequal resource distribution in a socialist revolution, which should abolish private ownership of the production means and the exploiting classes. Thus, the conflicts leading to the strikes can be institutionalized through passing new legislation. According to Karl Marx, bourgeois society and ideology are based only on the rules of the ruling class. Therefore, living in such a society, the working class is unavoidably oppressed by the ruling class.
As was mentioned earlier, outstanding personalities estimated Marx’s conflict theory as having positive and negative aspects. The most substantial advantage of conflict theory is that it focuses on creating a system of genuine economic equality. Marx also is the first to accept the conflict as an inevitable feature of society and tries to offer ways to regulate and balance the inequality (Fuchs, 2019). Marx also describes the leading causes of the social conflicts, such as the high level of organization of subordinate social groups and their awareness of their interests, goals, and values. However, the philosopher analyzes the social conflict only basing on the political and economic areas of interest. Another drawback of Marx’s theory is that the philosopher does not consider non-economical reasons for social conflicts such as religion, which, considering the diversity of the social relationships, clearly may cause social contradictions.
The second construct of Karl Marx’s studies to elaborate on is alienation. This is a deep philosophical characteristic of the emotional state of the human being as part of the destroying social mechanism. From Marx’s point of view, the inescapable truth about the unequal distribution of power between social classes in the capitalist mode of production hurts the human self-perception and emotional state (Fuchs, 2019).
The work should be pleasant for people and encourage them to be productive and creative. However, the separation of labor and the exploitation of workers, which are inherent to the capitalist society, alienates the workers’ motivation and lowers efficiency. Therefore, the capitalist system considers not only the products and labor as a commodity but also the people, which is contradictory to Marx’s ideology that the human being should be the central value of society.
Society’s excessive consumption, which results in alienated labor, is defined in Marx’s works as having particular features. Marx identifies alienation of labor which causes life dissatisfaction in four situations (Fuchs, 2019). The first consequences appear when people are not connected with the product they create. The second is when people do not make decisions on the product distribution and working activity process. The third includes the lack of communication with the other workers, in other words, isolated work. The last criterion focuses on the general working activity dissatisfaction and inability to apply creativity while working. Thus, the construct of alienation is primarily connected with the violation of natural human rights.
Marx’s theory of alienation was debated over decades and even today is a matter of great interest for many historians, philosophers, and politicians. Considering the criticisms of the alienation theory, it is essential to mention that the researchers point out that the most substantial drawback is that Marx does not accommodate private farming and industrialization in this construct (Fuchs, 2019). Thus, the non-industrialized labor is not addressed, which is significant for the general country’s economic state factor. Another disadvantage of Marx’s philosophy from Oizerman’s point of view is that the construct of the alienation of the labor causes the degradation of the creative process approach to the work (Fuchs, 2019). Thus, the theory does not cover all the types of labor and has its drawbacks. However, it answers the existential questions about the nature of social relationships and the complexity of the psychological state under the pressure of the strata society.
Summarizing the construct of interest, alienation, it is crucial to mention three aspects of this theory: technological, social, and psychological. The insufficient productive technical process development demolishes the workers’ opportunities to feel comfortable at work (Fuchs, 2019). Therefore, the exploitation of people due to inadequate technological growth is one of the labor alienation causes. The second aspect implies the social difficulties connected with the resource distribution and the power of the ruling classes. Thus, the final product of the people’s work belongs to the representatives from the ruling class. The last aspect of alienation includes the people’s hostile attitude towards society because of social stratification. Therefore, Marx’s alienation is mainly connected with the rejection of industrial labor caused by the social problems of the distribution of power and resources.
The construct of alienation developed in Marx’s works can be applied to understand and regulate modern social relationships better. Social workers may use the construct to analyze the social behavior of the people through the prism of the mentioned above factors causing this problem. Considering Marx’s ideology, the human resource managers can develop some of the working spheres within the company to meet the worker’s needs in diverse activities that involve creativity.
Thus, the change in the particular company working process planning can lower the natural level of alienation and increase the workers’ satisfaction, thereby enhancing their efficiency. In terms of the whole society, social workers, considering that social stratification negatively affects the labor perception, may hold educational programs that can help people deal psychologically with the problem of alienation and teach executives to respect the works of subordinates.
Therefore, the two essential constructs of social conflict and alienation in Karl Marx’s ideology are connected with the problems of social stratification, classes, and the unequal distribution of power and resources. The thoughtful theoretical analysis of Marx’s works is essential in the understanding of the nature of the social and industrial relationships and helps to develop the concepts to cope with the inevitable socially conditioned difficulties. The detailed deconstruction of the alienation construct contributes to the profound realization of the ideas expressed by the outstanding philosopher.
Reference
Fuchs, C. (2019). Marxism. Karl Marx’s fifteen key concepts for cultural and communication studies. Routledge Press.