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Marx: alienation, commodity fetishism and the world of contemporary social work

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Marx: alienation, commodity fetishism and the world of contemporary social work

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Main Argument:

Lack of control over our lives and creative activity that, for Marx, defined alienation and that he saw as being more extreme under capitalism than under any previous mode of production has actually intensified during the era of neoliberalism.

Through an examination of the areas of work, sexuality and health-- lack of control and greatly increased commodification have a huge negative impact on our health and relationships. (According to the study"Health Inequalities Among British Civil Servants: The Whitehall II Study")

Method:
- For the first one: Literature Review
- For the second one: Large-scale Longitudinal Study focusing on issues like: health; work characteristics based on occupational strain, model of job demands and decision latitude; Social networks and type of social supports; health behaviors such as smoking, dietary pattern, etc; grade of employment

Conclusion of the article mentioned:

inverse relationship between levels of employment and mortality from coronary heart disease and a range of other health problems  (Men on the lowest grade, including messengers, doorkeepers and so on, had a threefold higher mortality rate than men in the highest grade).

Job stress and lack of control over their work were identified as the biggest factors

Contribution in using Marx's theory:

Contribution: Explored Marx's understanding of "human nature" and the difference between his definition and those of others

(Marx's concept of human nature in general: open-endedness, potential for development and self-determination) (compared to others, he sees this as "fluid, dynamic and changing, with new societies producing new needs") (He also located these needs and satisfaction within concrete conditions of class society, providing basis for critique of capitalism)

Suggests many ways to change alienation in current society (through government intervention during economic crisis; more trade unions; pushing for collective approaches such as group work; build closer links to social welfare movements)

References:
Main article: Lavalette, Michael, and Iain Ferguson. "Marx: Alienation, Commodity Fetishism and the World of Contemporary Social Work." Critical and Radical Social Work 6.2 (2018): 197-213. Web.

Cited article: Marmot, MG, Stansfeld, S, Patel, C, North, F, Head, J, White, I, Brunner, E, Feeney,
A, Davey Smith, G, 1991, Health inequalities among British civil servants: the
Whitehall II study, The Lancet, 337, 8754, 1387–93

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Viewing the great recession through radical economics: social class, inequality and the social safety net

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Viewing the great recession through radical economics: social class, inequality and the social safety net

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Martin, Edward J; Pimentel, Matthew S.Global Virtue Ethics Review; Harrisburg Vol. 7, Iss. 1, (2014): 70-94.

Aims

To reaffirm the relevance of some of the key ideas of marx in modern economic phenomenon

Example

Materialist causes of the Civil War:

The cause of the Civil War in the US was not fought over slavery and freedom, but rather the agrarian economy of the South replying upon free trade and industrial capitalism of the north requiring tariffs to protect infant industry from foreign competition.

Distribution of Wealth

20% of all US citizens with he higher incomes captured a higher share in earnings than before. Widening gap of income inequality is disturbing as without government intervention millions more families would have fallen into poverty

https://search.proquest.com/docview/1534142552/fulltextPDF/C634C3EEAF994EECPQ/1?accountid=14511

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Resilience and Justice - Susan Fainstein 

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Resilience and Justice - Susan Fainstein 

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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-2427.12186

Resilience often used as a ‘buzzword’ by policymakers in order to justify controversial actions and absolve from blame/responsibility

Notes the strength of the Marxist framework, but argues that neither Marxism nor the typically accepted non-Marxist approach provide a ‘guide to practice’ for resilience in society

"Marxist theory points to important facts about how issues of disaster recovery are normally addressed––that without radical questioning they devolve into a consensual agreement to value growth over equity and to encourage growth by directly benefiting those who already are most advantaged."

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Commodity fetishism and repression -Micheal Billig

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Commodity fetishism and repression -Micheal Billig

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aim:
reexamine Marx’s notion of commodity fetishism on the consumer capitalism in postmodern society

Main argument:

- Marx’s commodity fetishism: productive origins of commodities being routinely forgotten

- under consumer capitalism: pleasures of consumerism being routinely diminished by an awareness of the productive origins of consumer goods

people’s identity is bound up with the regular acquisition of material possessions in under consumer capitalism;

commodities being consumed as items of pleasure and as identity of consumer requires consumer not to think about the labour relations — object being understood as if objectively characterised bu its label and price

e.g. fashion industry

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Finding dignity in dirty work (alienation)

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Finding dignity in dirty work (alienation)

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--Clare L. Stacey

Aims:

• To address how home care workers experience and see meanings in their "dirty work"
• Home care job is demanding both physically and emotionally, low wage, over time working.
• To see whether care givers are suffering from alienation

Main argument:

• Although social care workers feel alienated, they appreciate rewards for providing care for elderlies by crafting a sense of dignity

Methodology:

conducted in depth interview with 33 home care workers in Central City, California
• On site observation ex. Worker trainings, new employee orientation

Findings

1. home care workers finds dignity and responsibility from their work

2. dignity often compensate for the
constrains for the job, eg. low-paid, high risk, low job security
3. feeling alienation as well: 'robotic', 'disconneced'

4. outsiders view the job as low skilled but themselves have own interpretation of responsibility and contribution (bond with the clients)

5. job satisfaction

Reflection:

limited sample size

interview bias

Marx theory about alienation still relevant today? - diversity of the type of occupation

service , treating people not products

job satisfaction vs. constrains

References:

Stacey, C. L. 2005. Finding dignity in dirty work: the constraints and

rewards of low-wage home care labour. Sociology of Health & Illness Vol. 27 No. 6 2005 ISSN 0141–9889, pp. 831–854

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