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Karl Marx Alienated Labor

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Practice Question 1: Karl Marx Karl Marx is known for his concerns and disagreements regarding capitalism. Although his theory and writings are from the 1800’s, much of his writings are still prevalent in today's society and economy. This is shown in the two articles, “Qatar World Cup construction 'will leave 4,000 migrant workers dead'” and “As Its Laborers Die, Qatar Fights to Keep World Cup”. Two concepts that Marx is known for that are portrayed in both of these articles are capitalism and alienation of workers in the production process. Marx saw capitalism as a problem in the 1800’s and it is still wreaking havoc on the production of the world cup stadiums and buildings in Qatar. Capitalism is is an economic system based on …show more content…

This form of alienation may appear similar to how capitalism was put into effect in Qatar. This is because alienation of workers in the production process aids in capitalism and the production of profit for the capitalists. Alienation within the production process is when workers are being alienated by the process of production, the work is coerced by the capitalists, and the worker is seen as an object in the production process. After reading the two articles, I can confidently say that those migrant workers in Qatar are being alienated by the capitalists in the production process. One of the characteristics of alienation within the production process is that the work is coerced by capitalists. Both articles talk about how some workers had their passports taken away so they couldn’t leave the country. The article, “As It’s Laborers Die, Qatar Fights to Keep the World Cup”, said it best, “...hundreds were effectively trapped in Qatar, unable to return home after construction companies had seized their passports…”. By not being able to leave, this means the workers were coerced by the capitalists to stay and continue their labor. Another characteristic of alienation in the production process is that the worker is seen as an object in the production process. Again, the second article claims that 40 Nepalese workers had died in July and the first article claims, “The evidence-based assessment of the mortality rate of migrant workers in Qatar shows that at least one worker on average per day is dying”. The fact that so many of these workers are losing their lives as a result of their labor for the capitalists proves that the workers are expendable, or objects, to the

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