Alienation

A feeling of separation, powerlessness or lack of fulfilment. In Marxist explanations, capitalist work can alienate workers because they have little control over their work and its products.

In Marxism, workers’ estrangement from their work because they lack control over the work they do and the products they make.

Alienation, associated with Marxism, means workers’ estrangement from their work because they lack control over the work they do and the products they make. This is different from anomie, which concerns the breakdown of the norms that usually regulate behaviour. War or riots can disrupt established rules.

A feeling of powerlessness or separation from work and its products. Zaretsky argued that family life cannot fully compensate for alienation under capitalism.

Alienation involves feeling powerless or disconnected from work and its products. For Zaretsky, family life could not fully compensate for this experience or remove its economic causes. He argued that socialism was needed to overcome the separation of personal life from the wider economy and make personal fulfilment possible.

A feeling of disconnection from an activity, particularly when someone has little control over it or finds it unfulfilling.

Definition

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AQA GCSE Sociology · 8192

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Eduqas GCSE Sociology · C200

Definition

How each exam board covers it

AQA GCSE Sociology · 8192

Related key terms

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Eduqas GCSE Sociology · C200