In his articles, Estranged Labour and Wage, Labour and Capital, Marx says that the proletarian are the labor power that sustains the capitalist economic base of the country. The proletariat are the working class who earn their living by selling or exchanging their labor power for a wage. Their labor power, their ability to specialized and create material resources is what benefits the bourgeoisie-the upper class that owns the means of production and exchange labor power for a wage. According to Marx, experiences of exploitation and alienation are correlated with the working class because of the capitalist economy the country is administered under.
When cities were first emerging we could already see how the dynamics of social organization were changing. With an increase in settlements, the population densities in many areas were also increasing. This consequently asked for an increase in specialized work. During the early emergence of cities, human settlements transitioned from being agricultural and having kin-based economies to the specialization of goods. Urban Sociologist William G. Flanagan wrote, “This specialization, in turn, created an interdependence among the various members of society who were no longer individually capable of providing for all of their own material needs. At the same time, the variety of fine works, luxuries, and comforts magnified and defined what it meant to be poor or rich” (Flanagan 2010). Specialization was and still is a central aspect for cities, but it is not all very beneficial to everyone in society. Even though specialization is the means of economic mobility, it creates social stratification, exploitation and alienation for the proletariat.
The high demands for specialized work is one of the reasons why many people in the working class experience exploitation. Marx says that exploitation occurs when the bourgeoisie, who own the facilities and material services being produced, seek an extraction of surplus value. Many workers are constantly pressure into to producing more while, most often, being underpaid relative to their productivity. The bourgeoisie are making a profit at the expense of the working class who, often, don’t have many options as to keep working with the conditions given to support themselves and their families.
The production of specialized goods and the high demands needed by people living in a capitalist economy create alienation for the working class-those who put forth their labor power. Alienation occurs when you feel yourself out of place or foreign in relation to something in the environment. Marx explains that the proletariat experience four different types of alienation. They experience alienation from work, the separation from products from one’s work, isolation from others, and isolation from one’s own human essence. In a capitalist economy, the working class is often actively separated from the product being created. Within the corporate world there is a sense of competition between people. There is competition as to who can produce more, who can produce better quality products and ultimately who can exchange their labor power for higher wages. Individuals adapt obtain an individualistic attitude where they find a way to be different from each other while still trying to fit in and compete with everyone else in society. It is also because of this individualistic attitude that individuals experience alienation since they have to give up something that they created and work on.
Flanagan wrote, “As Marx observed, one of the most profound transformations of human existence under industrial capitalism was the proletarianization of labor as society is divided into two distinct social classes, one gaining its living from profit, the other (the proletariat) from wages” (2010). Marx argues that because we live in a capitalist economy the proletarian are likely to experience exploitation and alienation. There are many concepts that contribute to this idea. The ones I have argued in this case are those of the specialization of goods, especially in cities, and the high demands of goods needed. Through different methods, the people have learned to cope with or work through their experiences of alienation and exploitation in order to make a living.
When cities were first emerging we could already see how the dynamics of social organization were changing. With an increase in settlements, the population densities in many areas were also increasing. This consequently asked for an increase in specialized work. During the early emergence of cities, human settlements transitioned from being agricultural and having kin-based economies to the specialization of goods. Urban Sociologist William G. Flanagan wrote, “This specialization, in turn, created an interdependence among the various members of society who were no longer individually capable of providing for all of their own material needs. At the same time, the variety of fine works, luxuries, and comforts magnified and defined what it meant to be poor or rich” (Flanagan 2010). Specialization was and still is a central aspect for cities, but it is not all very beneficial to everyone in society. Even though specialization is the means of economic mobility, it creates social stratification, exploitation and alienation for the proletariat.
The high demands for specialized work is one of the reasons why many people in the working class experience exploitation. Marx says that exploitation occurs when the bourgeoisie, who own the facilities and material services being produced, seek an extraction of surplus value. Many workers are constantly pressure into to producing more while, most often, being underpaid relative to their productivity. The bourgeoisie are making a profit at the expense of the working class who, often, don’t have many options as to keep working with the conditions given to support themselves and their families.
The production of specialized goods and the high demands needed by people living in a capitalist economy create alienation for the working class-those who put forth their labor power. Alienation occurs when you feel yourself out of place or foreign in relation to something in the environment. Marx explains that the proletariat experience four different types of alienation. They experience alienation from work, the separation from products from one’s work, isolation from others, and isolation from one’s own human essence. In a capitalist economy, the working class is often actively separated from the product being created. Within the corporate world there is a sense of competition between people. There is competition as to who can produce more, who can produce better quality products and ultimately who can exchange their labor power for higher wages. Individuals adapt obtain an individualistic attitude where they find a way to be different from each other while still trying to fit in and compete with everyone else in society. It is also because of this individualistic attitude that individuals experience alienation since they have to give up something that they created and work on.
Flanagan wrote, “As Marx observed, one of the most profound transformations of human existence under industrial capitalism was the proletarianization of labor as society is divided into two distinct social classes, one gaining its living from profit, the other (the proletariat) from wages” (2010). Marx argues that because we live in a capitalist economy the proletarian are likely to experience exploitation and alienation. There are many concepts that contribute to this idea. The ones I have argued in this case are those of the specialization of goods, especially in cities, and the high demands of goods needed. Through different methods, the people have learned to cope with or work through their experiences of alienation and exploitation in order to make a living.