According to Karl Marx’s Estranged Labor, there are four different types of alienation of labor in a capitalistic society. He defined these as the alienation of the worker from his product, alienation in the process of labor, alienation of man as a “species-being” and lastly alienation of man from man. His ideas of alienation of labor are present throughout capitalist society. They can be seen in both the principles Taylorism and Fordism, which encompass the progression of industrialized work and harsh manual labor. Marx’s four ideas of alienation of labor can also be found in Primo Levi’s recount of his time in the labor camp, Auschwitz. Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz can be viewed as the logical extension of capitalist ethics under an authoritarian
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Marx writes: “...the estrangement is manifested not only in the result but in the act of production, within the producing activity, itself.” This alienation takes three forms. First, the labor is external to the worker, meaning the worker does not find himself or pleasure in his work. Instead, he feels trapped and miserable. Another element in Marx’s second alienation of labor is that the labor is forced and extorted from the worker. The final element in Marx’s second alienation of labor is that the worker loses himself in the labor. The worker therefore only feels himself outside his work. This phenomenon is mirrored throughout Primo Levi’s story of his time in the Buna and his time in the chemical lab, especially during his chemical …show more content…
In the eyes of the SS and German Nazis in the labor camp, Levi and the other prisoners are only valued for their ability to work and create product, not for their humanity. In fact, the overwhelming majority of deportees were killed right after getting off the train because the Nazis believed that their value as workers was minimal. Soldiers asked the people coming off the train how old they were and if they were healthy or ill. Those who weren’t healthy were sent to the gas chambers. This complete and utter lack of respect for other human beings shows how Marx’s principle of alienation from other men in capitalist societies reaches its logical conclusion when used in the context of an extremely authoritarian society like Nazi
Marx writes: “...the estrangement is manifested not only in the result but in the act of production, within the producing activity, itself.” This alienation takes three forms. First, the labor is external to the worker, meaning the worker does not find himself or pleasure in his work. Instead, he feels trapped and miserable. Another element in Marx’s second alienation of labor is that the labor is forced and extorted from the worker. The final element in Marx’s second alienation of labor is that the worker loses himself in the labor. The worker therefore only feels himself outside his work. This phenomenon is mirrored throughout Primo Levi’s story of his time in the Buna and his time in the chemical lab, especially during his chemical …show more content…
In the eyes of the SS and German Nazis in the labor camp, Levi and the other prisoners are only valued for their ability to work and create product, not for their humanity. In fact, the overwhelming majority of deportees were killed right after getting off the train because the Nazis believed that their value as workers was minimal. Soldiers asked the people coming off the train how old they were and if they were healthy or ill. Those who weren’t healthy were sent to the gas chambers. This complete and utter lack of respect for other human beings shows how Marx’s principle of alienation from other men in capitalist societies reaches its logical conclusion when used in the context of an extremely authoritarian society like Nazi