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The Concept of Alienation

The concept of alienation has been a focus of attention among philosophers, writers, and artists as well as among social scientists for over a century. No doubt this interest reflects an important experience of persons in modem societies. Feelings of separateness from social roles and cynicism toward institutions seem pervasive in all industrialized and bureaucratized societies. In addition, alienation poses significant social problems. The disenchanted individual is unable to fully commit himself to his social roles or to the norms and values of his society. Consequently, the performances of individuals often fall short of their potential. In addition, the high rates of deviance and mass behavior found in modern societies are often attributed to alienating social conditions. Finally, given widespread alienation among the population, all modern societies require extensive systems of external social control in order to ensure conformity to norms and to maintain minimum standards of performance. (These ideas are reviewed in Mizruchi, 1964; Seeman, 1967a; Faunce, 1968: 84-133.) AUTHOR'S NOTE: The author wishes to thank Leonard Beeghley, Edna Bonacich, and Alan Orenstein for their comments on a draft of this paper.