Technique and Technology as Self-Alienation and Hetero-Alienation of Man: Contribution from Marx's Theory

Abstract

Marx’s work is the realization of a critical project examining the relations of production in the modern capitalist economy, its structure, and its functioning. In his analytical assessment, the relationship between wage labor and the power of capital hinders the development of human nature. The author’s critical perspective recognizes that alienated labor results in the working class’s condition of misery. Consequently, the alienated form that production imposes on the product of the worker’s labor develops alongside the machine that transforms the worker’s mode of work. Alienation and the division of labor appear in a reciprocal relationship, forming a cycle. The division of labor, in its historical development, conditions the alienation of labor. Furthermore, the worker feels alienated from their own work activity (self-alienation), from the powers created by the division of labor, and from the sociability of their coworkers (hetero-alienation), with legal and psychological consequences—the latter within the context of our country. The methodology of this paper focuses on a documentary analysis of excerpts from Marx’s work, as well as from contemporary authors who have revisited his reflections on the self- and hetero alienation of the worker due to the automation of industrial processes. A hermeneutic study on the reflection of increased labor productivity and the accumulation of capital in a state of coexistence between both concepts. Marx’s economic writings, which critique capital, help explain the causes and effects of domination and the neglect of the workforce, as well as their legal and psychological impact on the worker’s working life and social context.