Alienation, Sociology of

Abstract

After a short definition of alienation (roughly: all kinds of undesirable separation), its forgotten sources in antiquity (Gnostics, Roman law), and its relation with similar concepts (e.g., anomie), the article concentrates mainly on developments since the nineteenth century (revival of the concept in the writings of Feuerbach, Marx, Hegel), and especially on theoretical developments (largely but not exclusively in Marxist philosophy, both in Eastern Europe and the Western world) and on empirical research (mainly of a social-psychological nature) since World War II. The relevance of research on the usually distinguished dimensions of alienation (powerlessness, meaningless, normlessness, self-estrangement, and social isolation)—as mainly conducted within the framework of the ISA Research Committee on Alienation Theory and Research—to many other areas within the social sciences will be demonstrated. Finally, it will be argued that new forms of alienation, that are related to phenomena like information overload, ‘decisional squeeze,’ etc., and were not foreseen by Marx and Freud, are emerging as a result of the rapidly accelerating complexification of modern world society. Evidently, alienation is both a normative concept, implying a call to action (especially in Marxist approaches), and a more value-neutral analytical and descriptive concept.