ALIENATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: the relationship between work and technology
- Alienation at work was described by Marx in the 1840s, but continues to be relevant today. The Industrial Revolution forced people into unfulfilling factory jobs that estranged The problem persisted into the 20th and 21st centuries, particularly in low autonomy jobs.
- Today factors such as division of labour, and the displacement of certain skills contribute to alienation despite the automation of manual labour. However, new technology also helps to de-alienation through the interactive nature of internet that produces new opportunities.
- Despite the technological changes, the key factors causing alienation remain similar to 1840s and can be traced back to the dehumanisation of work and workers by 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 a sociological perspective, can be described as a feeling of powerlessness, meaninglessness and estrangement as a result of being unable to find fulfilment in ones work. The idea was formulated in Karl Marx’s early writing (Fulcher, & Scott, 2003) that coincided with the Industrial Revolution when the “agrarian, handicraft economy” was being replaced by “industry machine manufacture” (Britannica, 2015).
- Marx saw work as a means for people to express themselves creatively and central to human nature (Fulcher, & Scott, 2003). 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 had no control over the process, work hours or the final product due 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 employers and each other due to class division and competition that replaced collaboration (Kellner, 2006). Marx believed work was “dehumanised” and no longer offered enjoyment of self-realisation (Fulcher, & Scott, 2003).
- In 1950s-60s sociologists saw (Subberwal, 2009) that alienation was more widespread than manual labour and relevant to modern work, particularly bureaucracies or service sectors that offered limited freedom. Braverman (Lawson and Garrod, 2001) 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 (Subberwal, 2009) 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” of the most highly …