ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -In alienated labour, Marx claims, humans are reduced to the level of an animal, working only for the purpose of filling a physical gap, producing under the compulsion of direct physical need. Alienation from my life-activity also means that my life-activity is directed by another.

Detailed explanation-2: -The four dimensions of alienation identified by Marx are alienation from: (1) the product of labor, (2) the process of labor, (3) others, and (4) self. Class experiences usually fit easily into these categories.

Detailed explanation-3: -For Marx, true self-determination must rather consist in the imposition of human control on the social conditions of human production. ‘87. Therefore, the significance of alienation is that it highlights why humans may only be free by regaining control of their material conditions.

Detailed explanation-4: -Marxist approaches to power focus on its relation to class domination in capitalist societies. Power is linked to class relations in economics, politics and ideology. In capitalist social formations, the state is considered to be particularly important in securing the conditions for economic class domination.