Marx used the ‘theory of alienation†to expose what he claimed as a highly exploitative, unfair social relationship existing in a capitalist system which effectively divides society into two opposing groups. He argued that this unfair social relationship came into being because of the “concept of private property†which, according to him, refers to a situation where the means of production (such as factories and plants) are owned by private persons. This private ownership of the means of production gave birth to the two antagonistic social classes: “the property owners [or the capitalists] and the propertyless workers.†(Alienation, n.d.)            According to Marx, here lies the first alienation of the workers in a capitalist society. The capitalists own the means of production and the workers have only their labor to sell so that they could survive. Using the plants and factories at their disposal, the capitalists utilize the labor of the workers to enrich themselves by producing “surplus value†or profit.
arx’s Theory of Alienation Essay