Paper Summary:

This paper explores Karl Marx's theory of estrangement within the context of the contemporary industrial and economic setting. It devotes a considerable amount of time to explicating Marx's conceptions of estrangement and alienation. The paper subsequently looks at how his concept of estrangement can be applied to the modern global economy.

From the Paper:

"To begin with, Marx insists that the worker in the capitalist order is the most wretched of beings insofar as his or her power is in inverse proportion to his (or her) creative production. In other words, as Marx argues vehemently, the worker creates and someone else gains the wealth accumulated by the creation of that item. To elaborate a little further, the fruits of labor's efforts (the goods produced by steadfast toil) metamorphose into something that is literally independent of the producer; the laborers lose control over the means of production and the more products he or she produces, the less ability he or she has to consume those goods and the more he or she falls under the dominion of capital (Marx, 30-31)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cohen, Jean L. Class and Civil Society: the Limits of Marxian Critical Theory. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1982. Questia.com. 21 Feb. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98594896>
• "Commodity Fetishism." Answers.com. 2007. Answers Corporation. 21 Feb. 2007 <http://www.answers.com/topic/commodity-fetishism>
• Lindio-McGovern, Ligaya. "Alienation and Labor Export in the Context of Globalization." Critical Asian Studies, 36.2 (2004): 217-238.
• Martin, Randy. On Your Marx: Re-linking Socialism and the Left. Questia.com. 21 Feb. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109757497>
• Marx, Karl. "Estranged Labour." Pp.30-36. Additional bibliographic information not provided by client.

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