our becomes a commodity owned and controlled by bourgeoisie thus removing the human nature present in organic production and creating the ‘objectification of labour’ (Marx, 1844 cited in McLellan, 1978: 78). This concept of how the labourer is separated from the product of work is the first form of alienation that will be discussed. As the worker put effort and skills into his products as ‘is necessary and universal aspect of human life’ (Ritzer, 2000: 60), he becomes alienated from his capital as he has no control or ownership of it. Instead, his product ‘confronts [the labourer] as an alien being, as a power independent of the producer (Marx, 1844 cited in McLellan, 1978: 78). This distortion is a product of capitalist structure of society whereby the more the worker produces, the cheaper his labour becomes (McLellan, 1978). Where the capitalist replaces his product with a low wage, the objectification continues, as his value is removed and he becomes dominated by his capital in order to receive subsistence to survive (McLellan, 1978). This alienation is worsened by the increase in value of products as in return the value of labour diminishes.

Following on from this, a second key form of alienation is the alienation from labour. For Marx, production distinguishes man from other animals because “man through his own labour … sustains his own life and reproduces society and the human species” (Pappenheim, 1967: 85). The capitalist process whereby the worker has no connection with its product creates this form of alienation. The labourer has given away his skills in return for a low wage as nothing more than a commodity. Yet, the labourer has little other choice as this is his only chance of survival in a capitalist state. This is why Marx calls for the upheaval of the class system to be replaced with a communist state where labour is valued as ‘life’s prime want’ (Marx, 1891: 119). In context of contemporary British politics, Marx’s argument can be undermined by the declining size of the working class and greater relative power it has through trade unions. Thus, arguably Marx’s arguments are weaker in relation to modern times but it must be celebrated that they can still hold to a certain extent over a century on.