Empowered Consumer and Alienation

In the "Estranged Labor" chapter of the Paris Manuscripts, Karl Marx exposes his theory of alienation. Marx states that wage labor system corresponds to the most profound form of alienation. Since wage workers sell their labor power to earn a living, and the capitalist owns the labor process, the product of the workers' labor is in a very real sense alien to the worker. It is not the workers' product but the product of the capitalist. He adds that "Labor produces not only commodities: it produces itself and the worker as a commodity Ð'- and does so in the proportion in which it produces commodities generally." (EPM, p.71, Prometheus Books)

As labor becomes commoditized, Marx argues that man becomes disillusioned and enslaved. Man is reduced to a subsisting animal void of any capacity of freedom except the will to labor. In such a state of the world where "labor is external to the worker Ð'- i.e. does not belong to his essential being that he, therefore, does not confirm himself in his work, but denies himself, feels miserableÐ'..." (EPM, p.74, Prometheus Books)

This is terribly upsetting for Marx. He believes that workers are being alienated not just from their work but also from their very humanity in the process. According to Marx, we are different from animals as human species because we are free and conscious. Using our conscious freely, we can make our "life-activity" an object of our will. The workers that produce commodities do not have any conscious input to their life-activity (production). Although they have the freedom to choose their employer and occupation to some extent, once they do get employed, they do not have any autonomy over their own work. Thus, their alienation results in the erosion of their unique human qualities of consciousness and freedom.

Should this be upsetting today? Paris manuscripts reflect upon Europe's transformation in the Industrial revolution. Majority of her production were commodities. Man was enchanted by the consistent, abundant and standard goods that its machines produced. Innovation was driven only by academic scientific progress and the highest level of ownership. Companies competed on costs and consumers chose based on price.

Today, the picture of the economy in the developed markets is very different. In effect, we have outsourced most of our commodity production abroad. Ours is a knowledge economy and for most companies people are their biggest asset. Technologies, products and structures can be copied by competitors. No one, however, can match highly charged, motivated people who are internal to the production process. People are modern firm's repository of knowledge and they are central to its competitive advantage. The workers of the knowledge-based enterprises are increasingly involved with what they produce; they increasingly have more autonomy over their work so that they can be creative in what they do. Furthermore, they are increasingly motivated through profit-sharing schemes. They are, in effect, freer, more conscious and more motivated in their work environment. In Marx's terms, they are more human.

This doesn't alleviate our concern for the workers of the emerging world who are part of commodity producing enterprises. However, for them too, the picture is quite different than it was for their European counterparts in early 19th century. Availability of information and the speed at which it travels is fascinating. What is also fascinating is consumer's increasing ability and desire to shape the companies that deliver them commodities. Companies have to listen to their consumers more than ever before