ALIENATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY - TriumphIAS (2024)

ALIENATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

ALIENATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY:the relationship between work and technology

• Alienation at work was described by Marx in the 1840s,but continues to berelevant today.The Industrial Revolution forced people into unfulfilling factory jobs thatThe problem persisted into the 20th and 21st centuries, particularly inlow autonomy jobs.
• Today factors such asdivision of labour,and thedisplacementof certain skillscontribute to alienation despite the automation of manual labour.However, new technology also helps tode-alienationthrough theinteractive nature of internetthat produces new opportunities.
• Despite the technological changes, the key factors causing alienation remain similar to 1840s and can be traced back to thedehumanisation of work and workersby the capitalist system. For this reason the alienating and de-alienating aspects of technology in the 21st century are relevant but should be viewed within the social and economic context in which the technology operates.
• Alienation, from asociological perspective, can be described as afeeling of powerlessness,meaninglessness and estrangementas a result of being unable to find fulfilment in ones work. The idea was formulated in Karl Marx’s early writing that coincided with the Industrial Revolution when the“agrarian, handicraft economy”was being replaced by“industry machine manufacture”.
• Marx sawwork as a meansfor peopleto express themselvescreatively and central to human nature. Prior to industrialization, work was more creative and flexible, for example craftspeople worked to their own pace and controlled what they make and how they make it. Work on the land fluctuated seasonally and was meaningful, because the product was food – a vital necessity.
• In contrast, factory workers hadno control over the process, work hours or the final productdue to technological advancements and labour division. They had to perform repetitive routines to survive, creating something that wasn’t necessarily useful to them, but generated wealth for their employer.
• Workers became estranged from employersand each other due to class division and competition that replaced collaboration. Marx believed work was “dehumanised” and no longer offered enjoyment of self-realisation.
• In 1950s-60s sociologists saw that alienation was more widespread than manual labour and relevant to modern work, particularlybureaucracies or service sectorsthat offered limited freedom. Braverman feared that technology and further labour division would lead to “deskilling” of the workforce, i.e. reducing the skills needed by workers to do their jobs making them less valuable and leading to further disempowerment. Blunter, on the other hand proposed that greater automation in work would lead to a decline of alienation as there would be less dull, routine work and people could concentrate on more interesting and meaningful tasks. Nevertheless, some contemporary critics argue that new technologies take alienation to the next level (Kellner, 2006).
• In order to compete in today’s markets, employers seek to increase efficiency through technological innovation. Today most routine production work has been automated. Many information processing and basic “transactional jobs” (McKinsey, 2012) such as cashing checks and taking calls have also undergone automation or outsourcing to countries with cheaper labour (McKinsey, 2012). This is a result of greater processing and connectivity capabilities of new technologies.
• Technology has displaced certain skills and created new ones. Employers also seek to increase efficiency through “disintegration”.