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Book part
Publication date: 20 May 2011

Harry F. Dahms

Marx's writings were the first sustained and rigorous attempt to identify and scrutinize inherent contradictions as a constitutive feature of early modern society – the society he…

Abstract

Marx's writings were the first sustained and rigorous attempt to identify and scrutinize inherent contradictions as a constitutive feature of early modern society – the society he referred to as “bourgeois” society.1 In the related literature, scholars have paid ample attention to the fact that the German term Marx used, and which had been a key concept in Hegel's philosophy of right ([1821] 1967) – bürgerliche Gesellschaft – refers to early modern society as both a society in which wealthy “burghers” are the driving force and primary decision-makers – bourgeois society – and a society of equal citizens – civil society (see especially Cohen & Arato, 1992; Riedel, 1988). The conceptual differentiation of bürgerliche Gesellschaft into bourgeois society and civil society suggests that it is not possible to discern the nature of this emergent society according to one overarching principle. Instead, it is necessary to recognize underlying contradictions as a key structuring principle. The contradictions are most conspicuous in tensions between the values of democracy (as espoused most explicitly during and by the French Revolution, in terms of liberty, equality, and fraternity/solidarity) and the imperative of a market-based economy operating according to the capitalist mode of production and foreshadowing industrialization.

Details

The Vitality Of Critical Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-798-8

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2011

Jalal Safipour, Donald Schopflocher, Gina Higginbottom and Azita Emami

The objective of the study is to investigate the social alienation status of Swedish high school students with respect to gender and immigrant background.

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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the study is to investigate the social alienation status of Swedish high school students with respect to gender and immigrant background.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample was randomly selected from high school students aged 15‐19, and 446 students participated in the study. The Jessor and Jessor general alienation questionnaire was used to explore feelings of social alienation. Sequential multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships between alienation, age, sex, and immigrant background.

Findings

The results demonstrated a significant association between immigrant background and alienation. It was found that first‐generation immigrants felt more alienated than second‐generation immigrants and second‐generation immigrants felt more alienated than natives. Adolescents who were first‐generation immigrants had higher scores on the social isolation subscale than second generation immigrants and native Swedes. However, second generation immigrants had higher scores on the meaninglessness subscale than first‐generation immigrants and native Swedes. Age proved to have a significant quadratic component. The research found feeling of alienation significantly higher among youngest and oldest students but lower for those aged 17.

Research limitations/implications

The study was limited by the number of participants with different cultural background in the immigrant samples. As such, it was unable to compare feeling of alienation between students with different cultural background.

Originality/value

As the authors could not identify any studies that specifically address feelings of social alienation among adolescents in Sweden, thus this study is believed to be the first one in this context.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 31 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 December 2005

Harry F. Dahms

For sociological perspectives on globalization to do justice to its many facets, they must be informed by an understanding of modern societies as simultaneously complex…

Abstract

For sociological perspectives on globalization to do justice to its many facets, they must be informed by an understanding of modern societies as simultaneously complex, contingent, and contradictory – as modern capitalist societies. As is becoming ever more apparent, such an understanding of modern societies is the necessary precondition for identifying the defining features of globalization. Yet, for the most part, the history of the social sciences did not produce research agendas, theories, and methods designed to grasp complexity, contingency, and contradiction as core dimensions of modern social life that continually reinforce each other. The social sciences did not evolve as ongoing efforts to grasp the gravity each dimension exerts on concrete forms of political, economic and cultural life, and how the force of each depends on the constant exchange of energy with the other two. To the extent that scrutinizing the impact of globalization on the future – and possible futures – of human civilization is the primary challenge for social scientists to confront today, the current condition presents a unique, and perhaps most unusual opportunity to conceive anew the promise of each and all the social sciences, as elucidating how the complex, contingent, and contradictory nature of modern societies, in the name of advancing social justice, has engendered a regime of managing “social problems.”

Details

Social Theory as Politics in Knowledge
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-363-1

Book part
Publication date: 20 May 2011

Harry F. Dahms

For perspectives on globalization to do justice to its many facets, they must be informed by an understanding of modern societies as simultaneously complex, contingent, and…

Abstract

For perspectives on globalization to do justice to its many facets, they must be informed by an understanding of modern societies as simultaneously complex, contingent, and contradictory – as modern capitalist societies. As is becoming ever more apparent, such an understanding of modern societies is the necessary precondition for identifying the defining features of globalization. Yet, for the most part, the history of the social sciences did not produce research agendas, theories, and methods designed to grasp complexity, contingency, and contradiction as core dimensions of modern social life that continually reinforce each other. The social sciences did not evolve as ongoing efforts to grasp the gravity each dimension exerts on concrete forms of political, economic, and cultural life, and how the force of each depends on the constant exchange of energy with the other two. To the extent that scrutinizing the impact of globalization on the future – find possible futures – of human civilization is the primary challenge for social scientists to confront today, the current condition presents a unique, and perhaps most unusual opportunity to conceive anew the promise of each and all the social sciences, as elucidating how the complex, contingent, and contradictory nature of modern societies, in the name of advancing social justice, has engendered a regime of managing “social problems.”

Details

The Vitality Of Critical Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-798-8

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1991

Walter R. Heinz

Melvin Seeman (1989) has recently stated that nowadays the concept of alienation carries an antiquated meaning which is quite in contrast to its importance in the 1960s. There…

Abstract

Melvin Seeman (1989) has recently stated that nowadays the concept of alienation carries an antiquated meaning which is quite in contrast to its importance in the 1960s. There seems to be much evidence for a fading romance with alienation in the social sciences. I have continued Seeman's search for articles that have appeared between 1978 and 1982 in leading social science journals until 1989. There was only one major reference, however, a quite important one by Kai T. Erikson in his presidential address to the American Sociological Association in 1985. Contrary to these disappointing observations Seeman suggests that alienation is leading an underground life in contemporary research and theory. According to his assessment this theme survives because the assumptions involved in the tradition of the alienation motif are indispensable for critical analysis in sociology and psychology.

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International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 11 no. 6/7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Book part
Publication date: 25 March 2019

Julia Morinaj, Kaja Marcin and Tina Hascher

Current challenges in the educational sector along with age-related changes during early adolescence contribute to an increased sense of school alienation (SAL) among students…

Abstract

Current challenges in the educational sector along with age-related changes during early adolescence contribute to an increased sense of school alienation (SAL) among students. Some of the central concerns of SAL are failure to participate in classroom and socially deviant behaviors. This study examined the change in and cross-lagged relationships among alienation from learning, teachers, and classmates, and different self-reported learning and social behaviors across 508 secondary school students spanning a one-year interval from Grade 7 to Grade 8. The results revealed a slight increase in SAL and a decline in classroom participation. Earlier SAL predicted students’ later in-class participation and delinquent behavior, but not vice versa. The three alienation domains were shown to have different relationships with targeted learning and social behaviors: Alienation from learning and from teachers negatively predicted student classroom participation. Alienation from teachers and from classmates contributed to subsequent delinquent behavior. The study results emphasized the importance of SAL for students’ participation in classroom activities as well as in disruptive behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings for educational research and practice are discussed.

Details

Motivation in Education at a Time of Global Change
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-613-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2013

Dan S. Chiaburu, Ismael Diaz and Ans De Vos

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which employees' perceptions of alienation (personal and social) are related to positive (career satisfaction) and…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which employees' perceptions of alienation (personal and social) are related to positive (career satisfaction) and negative (careerist orientation) career‐related outcomes and to examine the mediating role of career satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper used a cross‐sectional design, with questionnaires administered to 165 employees working in organizations in the USA to test the relationship between alienation and careerism through career satisfaction.

Findings

Alienation was found to be a positive predictor of employee careerism, and a negative predictor of their career satisfaction. The data were consistent with a model positioning career satisfaction as a mediator of the alienation to careerism relationship.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should examine the relationship between alienation and career outcomes in other organizations and job families, to enhance generalizability. Data should be also collected longitudinally, to extend the current cross‐sectional design.

Practical implications

Understanding the empirical link between alienation and career outcomes can provide useful information to reduce negative career outcomes.

Originality/value

The findings point toward a positive relationship between employee alienation and their careerism. In doing so, the paper adds to a body of work where careerism was connected with structural rather than individual predictors.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1994

Felix Geyer

Provides definitions of the three concepts in the title and explores their interrelationships. Distinguishes six alienation dimensions – powerlessness; meaninglessness;…

Abstract

Provides definitions of the three concepts in the title and explores their interrelationships. Distinguishes six alienation dimensions – powerlessness; meaninglessness; normlessness; social isolation; cultural estrangement; self‐estrangement – and combines them with three kinds of participation: spontaneous, negative, and compensatory. Describes increasing societal complexity from a general systems perspective. Explores the psycho‐ and sociogenesis of unalienated as well as alienated participation. Increasing societal complexity creates new forms of alienation and participation, but also resistances of groups that feel threatened or left out by an excessively fast rate of change, which in turn threatens macro‐societal stability. Those left without the means to participate in the economic or political process tend to be the alienated “negative participants”; they are generally destructive and anti‐outgroup as a result of personal experiences or economic deprivation.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 23 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 October 2018

S. S. Galazova

The author examines various scientific projections of Marx’s central concept of labor alienation (ontological, epistemological, praxeological, and perceptual). A comparative…

Abstract

The author examines various scientific projections of Marx’s central concept of labor alienation (ontological, epistemological, praxeological, and perceptual). A comparative analysis of the essential characteristics of the category of “alienation” by Karl Marx is provided, which allows one to systematize new features and ways of realizing the alienation phenomenon. This phenomenon is analyzed from the perspective of the modern context of reality, which is distinct from new forms of social and economic transformations and the modernization of productive forces, and considers different spheres and levels of interaction between economic actors.

Details

Contemporary Issues in Business and Financial Management in Eastern Europe
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-449-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2017

Anjali Bansal

In the literature of mergers and social justice, equality is regarded as a crucial phenomenon to achieve social integration. This paper is based on the philosophy that during…

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Abstract

Purpose

In the literature of mergers and social justice, equality is regarded as a crucial phenomenon to achieve social integration. This paper is based on the philosophy that during mergers and acquisitions (M&As), the employees who experience the equal distribution of resources, equal respect to each other’s policies and procedures, and fair and respectful interactions, are more likely to have a sense of control and lower social isolation and hence tend to get influenced positively by the M&A process. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between perceived organizational justice and employee feelings of alienation during post-M&As.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey research design has been used. This study was undertaken on a sample of 315 employees from five organizations in India. The quantitative data were subjected to univariate and bivariate analysis, while qualitative data were subjected to relational content analysis. Different dimensions of justice were studied in relation to the feelings of alienation using multiple correlational analysis and hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings

Multiple correlational analyses revealed significant negative correlation of perceived organizational justice and of all of its dimensions with all the dimensions of alienation. However, the results of the hierarchical regression analysis found interactional justice and distributive justice to be the major predictors of alienation during M&As. Apart from the quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis also revealed interesting insights, unique to the individual organization.

Originality/value

The study has significant value for both MNCs and researchers. This study has strong implications for the multinational corporations that are making inroads into M&As but consistently failing due to employee issues. This study also presents future directions to the researchers to explore more in the area of soft issues of M&As.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

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