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Entfremdung

Entfremdung, often translated as alienation, is a concept in philosophy and social theory describing the process by which individuals become estranged from aspects of their life, labor, or society.

In German idealism, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel treated alienation as a moment in the development of self-consciousness

Karl Marx reframed the idea to analyze capitalism. He argued that workers are alienated in four ways:

Beyond philosophy, Entfremdung influenced critical theory and sociology. The Frankfurt School linked alienation to rationalization, commodification,

In contemporary usage, Entfremdung appears in debates about work, technology, urban life, and political disaffection, as

and
freedom.
Through
productive
labor,
individuals
objectify
themselves
in
the
external
world
and
must
confront
the
division
between
thought
and
its
objects.
Alienation,
for
Hegel,
can
be
overcome
as
consciousness
integrates
these
separations
in
the
pursuit
of
higher
freedom.
from
the
product
of
their
labor,
from
the
process
of
production,
from
their
own
human
potential
or
species-essence,
and
from
other
people
in
a
competitive
system.
The
capitalist
mode
of
production
turns
labor
into
a
commodity
and
intensifies
social
estrangement,
shaping
both
individual
experience
and
social
relations.
and
bureaucratic
administration,
describing
a
form
of
social
estrangement
tied
to
modern
industrial
society.
The
image
of
the
“iron
cage”
of
rationality
is
sometimes
invoked
in
discussions
of
this
phenomenon.
well
as
in
questions
of
identity
and
community.
The
term
remains
contested,
with
differing
assessments
of
whether
alienation
is
primarily
structural,
psychological,
or
a
combination
of
both.