Alienation of Work: Seeds for a Communist Revolution

Concepts & Contributions Society is divided into two major classes 1.Proletariat: The working class (creators of the means of production) 2.Bourgeoisie: The owners of capital (owners of the means of production)

Class Consciousness One’s relative position to means of production A common identification among members of a class Marx stressed workers needed to be conscious of their class Workers of the World Unite!

False Consciousness The inability to see where your best interests lay Workers needed to rid themselves of false consciousness Who controls property forms basis for class formation and struggle

Alienation Separation of a person’s affections from an object. Example: You feel no connection with something you are producing

Alienation in Marx’s Theory Alienated From: Objects Produced Process of Production Themselves Fellow Workers How? Do not own what they produce. Work satisfies needs of capitalists. Monotonous work limits growth and potential. Isolation from/Direct competition with fellow workers

Communism Stressed abolishment of private property Means of production shared by public Stressed human potential

Elimination Needed to eliminate alienation, division of labor, and private property

Revolution! A worldwide revolution would occur in which the workers would overthrow the capitalists and create a classless society.

COMMUNISM