Theories of Alienation

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XXV

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2. Evolution of the Theory and Concept

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Alienation as a Concept in the Social Sciences

      • Peter C. Ludz

      Pages 3-37

3. Extensions and Reformulations in Marxist Analysis

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 39-39

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   2. Alienation and Reification

      • Joachim Israel

      Pages 41-57

   3. Using Marx’s Theory of Alienation Empirically

      • W. Peter Archibald

      Pages 59-74

4. Psychiatric Approaches

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 75-75

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   2. Some Problems of Reification in Existential Psychiatry: Conceptual and Practical Considerations

      • Frank A. Johnson

      Pages 77-102

   3. The Tantalus Ratio

      • S. Giora Shoham

      Pages 103-130

5. New Conceptual and Theoretical Approaches

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 131-131

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   2. Alienation the ‘Is-Ought’ Gap and two Sorts of Discord

      • Richard Schacht

      Pages 133-150

   3. Mediation and Psychic Distance

      • John Lachs

      Pages 151-167

   4. On ‘Alienation’: An Essay in the Psycholinguistics of Science

      • David G. Hays

      Pages 169-187

   5. Individual Alienation and Information Processing: a Systems Theoretical Conceptualization

      • R. Felix Geyer

      Pages 189-223

6. Work and Politics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 225-225

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   2. Work or Life

      • Albert B. Cherns

      Pages 227-244

   3. Political Powerlessness as Reality

      • Marvin E. Olsen

      Pages 245-261

7. Current Research Findings

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 263-263

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   2. Empirical Alienation Studies: An Overview

      • Melvin Seeman

      Pages 265-305

The original papers which appear in this volume were initially presented in a series of sessions of the Ad Hoc Group on Alienation Theory and Research at the 1974 World Congress of Sociology in Toronto, Canada. This group was organized by the editors as a result of their longstanding research and teaching interest in the field. The purpose of the Toronto sessions was to provide an international forum where scholars and researchers could come to­ gether for a personal exchange of ideas and research findings. To our know­ ledge this was the first forum of its kind concerned specifically with aliena­ tion theory and research. More than fifty theoretical and empirical papers from thirteen countries and several overlapping disciplines were organized into panels and workshops during the span of four days. The response to these sessions indicates that interest in the study of alienation by philosophers and social scientists continues unabated. The Toronto sessions were organized largely around a fundamental concern for further theoretical development and conceptual clarification in the alienation field. The papers selected for this volume reflect this thematic concern. Although many excellent empirical papers were presented, it was generally felt that meaningful empirical research would benefit from a continued elaboration and refinement of alienation theory. The present collection is consequently geared to problems of meaning, theory, and method. Considerable emphasis is also placed on a critical evaluation of the alienation theme as it has evolved from social philosophy to empirical social research.

• Evolution
• Nation
• evaluation
• philosophy
• politics
• sociology

• Social Research Centre, Netherlands Universities’ Joint, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  R. Felix Geyer

• University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

  David R. Schweitzer

Policies and ethics