Rated
08:36am
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1 review
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capitalism, consumerism, marx
• chartist.org.uk
"One of the most important concepts to come out of the Marxist tradition of social thinking is that of alienation. The idea, in Marx's phrase, that under capitalism people are alienated from their "species being". An individual's labour, which is at the core of their self expression, their individuality and their confirmation of their humanity, becomes separated from them and turned into a commodity which is alienated from them and simply bought and sold in the market place.
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For Marx, alienation was something that ended at the factory gates. An enthusiastic supporter of the eight hour movement, Marx believed that workers could only be free away from the constraints of the factory system.
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George Ritzer has very clearly stated this in terms of his analysis of what he calls McDonaldization and Disneyfication: the way that we shop, the way that we consume and the way that we spend our vacations. In terms of contemporary capitalism the shopping mall is more emblematic than the factory, apart from anything else there are fewer factories and more malls. The largest enclosed shopping mall in the world, in Edmonton in Canada, actually has its own airport to service the shoppers as well as a string of hotels and motels. People vacation in order to shop, and when they vacation they are relentlessly sold to. The distinction between malls and theme parks begins to blur and we take days out shopping, so consumption becomes entertainment."