Sociological Significance and Contemporary Relevance

of Alienation in Durkheim and Marx

Jaqueline Brinn
Master student in Sociology (Contemporary Social Thought) at LSE, UK
BSc Media Computer Science, Hochschule Bremen, Germany
Email Address: jbrinn@gmx.de

Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................ 2
Meaning of Alienation in Marx and Durkheim ........................................................................... 2
Marx ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Durkheim ................................................................................................................................ 2
Comparison and Sociological significance.................................................................................. 3
Division of Labour ................................................................................................................... 4
The Paris Manuscripts ......................................................................................................... 4
The Division of Labour in Society ........................................................................................ 5
The German Ideology .......................................................................................................... 6
Societal Integration and Regulation ....................................................................................... 6
Capital ................................................................................................................................. 7
Suicide ................................................................................................................................. 7
Modern Societies and Urbanism......................................................................................... 8
Contemporary Relevance ........................................................................................................... 9
Labour ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Contemporary Working Conditions .................................................................................... 9
Unemployed and Alienation ............................................................................................. 10
Societal Integration and Power ............................................................................................ 11
Urban Integration.............................................................................................................. 11
The End of Power .............................................................................................................. 11
Terrorism as a Result of Double Alienation ...................................................................... 12
Suicide ............................................................................................................................... 14
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 15
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................. 16

Sociological Significance and Contemporary Relevance of Alienation in Durkheim and Marx Jaqueline Brinn

Introduction
Roughly one hundred years ago, Marx and Durkheim published their work about alienation,
its causes and consequences. Due to the sociological fame of both scholars, their theories
are often cited and used to explain contemporary issues.
This essay is analyzing alienation in its meaning for Durkheim and Marx in the first chapter,
then goes deeper into the literature of both authors during to analyze the sociological
significance in the second section and comes back to a contemporary surface in the last part.
The conclusions drawn from this analyzes are that the concept of alienation is still highly
relevant in modern societies, but depending on the context, a combination of both
approaches and few adaptations might seem useful.

Meaning of Alienation in Marx and Durkheim

Marx
Building on Rousseau, Marx essentially defines individuals as good and social by nature and
society as a potential problem creating institution (Szelnyi, 2009). He stresses societys
ability to enrich human life as well as to damage and undercut it (Chernilo, 2013). This essay
will work with alienation as described in The German Ideology, Capital and the Paris
Manuscripts Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts. Notably, Marx mainly used the term
alienation in the works published after his death (Musto, 2010) , but commonly referred to
as his early work. A lot of his alienation theory bases on Hegels theory of the state of
alienation as the separation of subject and object and Kants distinction between things in
themselves and things for themselves (Szelnyi, n.d.), which will not be developed here due
to space restrictions.
It is also important to remark that Marx sees alienation as a result of a society that has
developed too many rules which are perceived by the individuals as imposed upon them
rather than being a result of a commonly build society (Plummer, 2011). This aspect will be
discussed especially in the chapter on contemporary relevance.

Durkheim
Durkheim, being closer to Hobbes, concludes that social pathologies are connected with a
lack of institutional control teaching individuals proper value systems (Szelnyi, 2009). This
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essay analyses his understanding of alienation based on The Division of Labour in Society
and Suicide, where alienation appears as fatalism (Szelnyi, 2009) or anomie (Musto,
2010). Society for Durkheim is greater than the sum of its parts and only as good as the least
among them (Stout, 2015). This results in the described need for regulation.
Durkheim describes a lack of social norms in a time with sudden industrialization and mass
movement of families into urban areas. This resulted for him in a breakdown of the ties
between individuals and their community and, thus a fragmentation of their social identity
and a feeling of isolation (Boundless, 2014).
These feelings will be discussed further in the chapters on societal Integration.

Comparison and Sociological significance

Alienation has a long history, mainly starting with Karl Marx's use in the nineteenth
century (Boundless, 2014), but while Marx argues that capitalism causes a problematic
alienation, Durkheim supports the idea that society needs to be regulated by something
alien to it (Mizgin, 2014). Since they both grew up in an industrialising society, they tried to
comprehend the societal changes occurring at that time (Plummer, 2011).
Marx believes that individuals are good and have been corrupted by society contrary to
Durkheim assuming that individuals are unrestrained and must be controlled by society
(Hirrazafar, 2014). Therefore, the problem of society for Marx is that it is overregulated
while for Durkheim it is underregulated. In other words, Marx sees capitalistic
overregulation as the origin of alienation while Durkheim also considers the lack of
institutional regulation. This includes the psychological model of Durkheim, where the
individual is in internal conflict with the moral rules of society and egoistic impulses, and
Marxs assumption that the individual is generally a social being without such conflicts
(Hirrazafar, 2014). Besides, the two scholars can also be differentiated by their proposed
solution, which Marx sees in the revolution of the proletariat, while Durkheim builds on the
creation of institutions.
It is crucial to look at their different concepts of the division of labour to understand their
individual approaches to alienation and then go deeper into the societal aspects of
integration and regulation.

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Division of Labour
In short, Marx sees in the division of labour the alienation of the industrial workers and
Durkheim its potential to provide sense in an industrial society. These two concepts seem
contrary; therefore they will be presented in their occurrence in the different works of both
authors to explain their sense inside of each scholars model of thought.
The Paris Manuscripts
In the Paris Manuscripts, Marx makes the point that wage, profit, rent and private ownership
culminate in alienation and can only be avoided by fixing the problems of capitalist economy
(Szelnyi, n.d.). He talks about the objectification of labour where the realization of
labour appears as a loss of reality, (...) self-sacrifice (...) [and] mortification. (Marx, 1844
(1932)) The worker denies himself as he does not develop freely his physical and mental
energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind. (Marx, 1844 (1932)) Besides, he was
convinced that human beings realized themselves by labour ever since (Hirrazafar, 2014) close to a definition my Max v. Eyth around that time) - and that this self-defining part of
labour is removed by alienation (Hirrazafar, 2014).
Marx has two central ideas, first that society itself is build by individuals and is therefore a
natural construct and secondly that the development of modern societies makes individuals
feel that the very same society is neither of their making nor reflecting their nature, thus
leading to the feeling of alienation (Hirrazafar, 2014).
He distinguishes four kinds of alienation (referred to as estrangement of practical human
activity): the alienation from the object of production, the act of production, species being
and fellow man. The first category is characterized by a product not belonging to the
labourer and therefore perceived as something independent from him. As Estranged
Labour describes Marx the alienation from the production process resulting in wage being
a necessary consequence (Marx, 1844 (1932)) and working as a means to an end. The
third type summarized the alienation from the human body, its environment, intellect and
spirituality in the term species being. These categories conclude in the alienation from
fellow man. Marx refers here to the relationship to other men (...) and to the labour and
the object of the labour of other men (Marx, 1844 (1932)) . Marx bases all these kinds of
alienation on the reification of labour and the profit-driven economy (Szelnyi, kein Datum)

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and private property as the material, summary expression of alienated labour (Marx, 1844
(1932)).

Cause

Effect

Solution

Objectification of Labour

Alienantion from

Fixing Problems of
capitalist Society

Reification of Labour
No free Development of
physical and mental Energy
Self-sacrifice, Mortification
of Body and Mind
Profit-driven Economy
Wage, Profit, Rent, Private
Ownership

Object of Production
Act of Production
Species Being
Human Body, its
Environment, Intellect and
Spirituality
Fellow Man

1: Alienation in the young Marx

The Division of Labour in Society

In Durkheims work The Division of Labour, he describes an evolution of mechanical human
societies (little division of labour and similar civil actors) into organic ones (much division of
labour and dissimilar civil actors). At the same time, he describes a kind of ecosystem
between the physical environment, the size of the inhabiting population, the social solidarity
and the division of labour. In contrast to Marx, the division of labour can be the source of
solidarity. Nevertheless, this evolution might lead to pathologies caused by either the
absence of rules (anomie) or overregulation and too forced division of labour (fatalism) with
the latter being one of the main arguments of Marx at that time unpublished Paris
Manuscripts. (Szelnyi, 2009)
Fatalism caused by overregulation is characterized by increasing class conflict (working class
dissatisfied with their assigned status), system crisis and isolated individuals at/by their
work. (Szelnyi, 2009) Unlike Marx he does not see the problem in capitalism, but in the
circumstances of the division of labour.
Anomie caused by lack of regulation (e.g. unlimited competition) can hinder solidarity and
lead to individuals feeling lost within society and lacking understanding of the bigger aim of
their monotonous work. The solution for Durkheim is to fix the norm-system by creating
professional communities and solidaristic identities (commonly shared values) in addition to
institutions moderating competition (Szelnyi, 2009).
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The German Ideology

In comparison with The Paris Manuscripts, one could argue that alienation in The German
Ideology is referring somewhat more to bigger societal issues like classes, the division of
labour and the power over an alien workforce. Here Marx is talking about alienation in a
broader sense by describing the distanced relation of a landlord to his land or a fabric
owners to his machines, which are characterized by money (in specific rent and profit)
(Marx, 1845/46 (1932)). In contrast to some medieval cities, where individual tasks/work
were much more important to the individual as their rudimental capital in form of tools and
material, the tremendous change lies for Marx in the division of labour and the solution in its
abandonment.
[T]he forces of production, the state of society, and consciousness, can and must come into
contradiction with one another, because the division of labour implies the possibility, nay
the fact that intellectual and material activity enjoyment and labour, production and
consumption devolve on different individuals, and that the only possibility of their not
coming into contradiction lies in the negation in its turn of the division of labour. (Marx,
1845/46 (1932), p. Ch 1 A3).
In Marx point of view, for a revolution against alienation to happen, it needs to become an
intolerable power, leave the majority propertyless and contrast an existing world of
wealth and culture marked by a great increase in productive power [and] a high degree of
its development with the development of productive forces (...) struggle[ing] for
necessities. (Marx, 1845/46 (1932), p. Ch. 1 A3) In contrast to Hegel, Marx sees alienation
as emerging in modernity and not as a general condition of humankind. (Szelnyi, kein
Datum). Compared to Durkheim, Marx clearly states that the division of labour is a problem
to fix and should be abandoned.

Societal Integration and Regulation

Regarding the integration and regulation of societies in a broader sense, Durkheims
analyses about suicide and Marxs publication Capital are good references. Marx is still
mostly referring to the working conditions as the origin of the problem, whereas Durkheim
focuses on society and its regulation as a whole. For Durkheim people are striving for a

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guiding hand inside of a chaotic freedom to be able to live happy lives (Plummer, 2011)
while Marx believes that more freedom is needed to bring individuals back to their satisfied
natural state.
Capital
While Marx is still using the term alienation in the Paris Manuscripts (for the
understanding of the philosophers) he rarely names it in Capital, yet developing some
accounts of alienation in the section about The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret
thereof describing capitalist people as being dominated by their own products and the
missing direct social relations between individuals at work represented by material
relations between persons and social relations between things (Marx, 1867, p. Ch. 1 Sec. 4).
[T]he social character of labour appears to us to be an objective character of the products
themselves and producers (...) enter into social relations with one another by treating their
products as commodities and values, whereby they reduce their individual private labour to
the standard of homogeneous human labour (Marx, 1867, p. Ch. 1 Sec. 4). In Capital, Marx
is repeatedly writing about the alienation process in relation to objects of production
(products), where the value relation between the products of labour (...) [has] absolutely no
connection with their physical properties and with the material relations arising therefrom.
(Marx, 1867, p. Ch. 1 Sec. 4) For Marx the labour process has become the objectification of
human powers (Blunden, 1999-2008) .
Suicide
In Suicide, Durkheim analyses suicide

Integration (high)

as one possible consequence of

Altruistic
Suicide

societal problems. Focussing on the

Fatalistic
Suicide

reasons behind this pathology, he

concludes

Regulation
(low)

Regulation
Egoistc
Suicide

Anomic
Suicide

(high)

parameters

that
that

there

are

indicate

two
four

different kinds of suicide. Durkheims

conclusion is that both regulation

Integration (low)
4: Diagramm of Suicide

and integration can lead to suicide if

Idea by (Szelnyi, 2009)

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Sociological Significance and Contemporary Relevance of Alienation in Durkheim and Marx Jaqueline Brinn

they are out of balance. For him alienated individuals (low integration) commit suicide either
due to no social regulations (egoistic) or because of them (anomic) and integrated
individuals because of lacking a function in society (altruistic) or because of their function
(fatalistic). Marx ideology would, in this case, only cover the high regulated part of the
diagram where individuals are overregulated.
Modern Societies and Urbanism
Regardless of the differences between Marx and Durkheim, their ideas can also complement
each other. If Durkheim's concept of the four categories of suicide and his understanding for
social guidance is seen on a private level and Marx approach related to too restricted
working conditions at a work-related level, they can exist in parallel. Regarding their
critiques of the society of their time, they would probably both agree that too much
regulation is not healthy for its individuals. Durkheim would certainly argue that regulation is
needed and that a lack of regulation can be equally bad if causing a moral maze. Marx might
stress that too much regulation always leads to alienation while Durkheim, referring to the
two parameters of pathologies, might consider that the integration parameter could still
weaken the social consequences of too much or too little regulation.
Although neither Durkheim nor Marx is focussing directly on urbanism in the mentioned
works, urbanism is closely related to the industrialization period and important to consider
as a preparation for the next chapter on contemporary relevance.
For Durkheim the loss of traditional strong ties (bonds to family, church and communities)
and clear expectations was the main problem of the industrializing and urbanizing society.
The urban industrialized worker experienced in his new environment, cities with dozens of
subcultures, a loss of his moral compass. (Plummer, 2011)
For Marx, who sees alienation as associated to capitalistic systems in general, urban workers
are losing control of their lives not because of a lack of moral guidance, but due to
overregulated non-autonomous and bourgeoisie driven work. By being alienated from his
work, the individual then becomes alienated from himself. (Boundless, 2014).
Though it is difficult to isolate the effects of urbanity and capitalism and urbanism came up
in different economic systems, capitalist economies seem to encourage urbanism.
Therefore, some Marxist scholars applied Marx theories also to urbanism (xx, kein Datum).

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Contemporary Relevance
Weather one focuses on the differences or on the similarities between Marx and Durkheim,
their influence on contemporary sociology is clearly identifiable (Hirrazafar, 2014). While the
markets, political and religious institutions are the product of a long tradition of human
societal development, it happens especially in complex (capitalistic) societies that they are
perceived as an independent super power (Plummer, 2011) and unwilling obedience appears
where creative participation would be appropriate. For Marx capitalism causes alienation,
but it could certainly be argued that other advanced industrial economies are causing similar
effects (Plummer, 2011).
Roughly a century has passed since Marx and Durkheim have published their theories of
alienation and anomie. Nonetheless, our contemporary world still has issues to solve
regarding working conditions and symptoms of alienation (e.g. suicide). Interestingly, Google
search requests for alienation reaches its peaks every year in November and March. This
might actually be related to exam periods, confirmed by the fact that July has the fewest
requests. The following chapters will focus on labour, social structures (integration and
power) and pathologies (terrorism and suicide) and analyze if the theories of Marx and
Durkheim are still relevant for our contemporary society.

Labour
In western economies a significant part of the production processes has been outsourced to
third world countries with lower wages. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate to focus on the
working conditions nowadays as this shift not necessarily brought about the increased work
satisfaction anticipated by some enthusiasts. A second issue regarding labour is
unemployment which will be analyzed afterwards.
Contemporary Working Conditions
Alienated work reloaded titled a German newspaper recently an article comparing
industrial work at the time of Marx with working conditions today, where the everyday life
of most people has nothing to do with the idealized smartly dressed globetrotter jetting
between continents while earning a fortune (Gumz, 2014).
Increased use of machines and computers also leads to less real production as part of the
work and less exercising of the body. Both factors might approve the idea that the worker is

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removed from natural manufacturing process with a visible product in the end as well as the
corporal feeling of having done something. Being alienated from the object of production,
the act of production, the human species and fellow man is therefore still relevant today.
Another point to consider in this discussion is that increased speed at work (mostly related
to technological optimization) and international competition has augmented the pressure
creating some modern pathologies of labour, for example burnout. On the other hand,
some employees are facing boreout at work, which is related to the other kind of
alienation caused by a lack of proper work and a perceived needlessness of the work
assigned. The later would be best described in Durkheims words by egoistic (having low
regulation and low integration).
Unemployed and Alienation
If the theory of Marx is true, one would expect that unemployment leads to less alienation
since the alienating work is gone and no forced structures are put upon the individual.
Durkheims theory might suggest that the loss of regulation might lead to severe problems if
integration is not optimal. Jahoda and Lazarsfeld made a huge study in Austria in 1933
(Siedenbiedel, 2015), where an entire village got unemployed due to a shut-down of a fabric.
The results showed that there are four types of people. They are characterized by apathy
(25 percent), desperateness (11 percent), resignation (48 percent) or toughness (16
percent). Marxs theory can in this context only be true under working conditions and not for
unemployment as the loss of their work was clearly negative for 84 percent of the
participants and created no revolutionary consciousness. Regarding the theory of Durkheim,
that the integration might be important to the impact of regulation, one has to analyze the
different groups. The first one was described as regular drinkers and even abandoned their
children; the second lost most of their hope as well while the third pretended to the public
to have an ordered life without really expecting much from their life anymore. The forth
group was making plans for their future and trying to change their destiny. Following the
conclusions drawn from this study it seems as if the personal attitude was an important
distinguisher between the groups (Siedenbiedel, 2015). Their social integration, thus, seems
not as important as many of them for example had children and the majority still cared
about their public image.

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What seems to support some of Durkheims theory nonetheless is that the rhythm of life got
dominated by the payment day of their unemployment benefit and that the cultivation of a
garden increased happiness (Siedenbiedel, 2015).

Societal Integration and Power

In addition to the working environment, another adequate area for analyzing alienation in
our contemporary world is the social integration in urban areas and the shift in power
distribution as well as their consequences.
Urban Integration
The recent book Gesellschaft der Angst [Society of Fear] describes current society as
dominated by the sense of being thrown into a world that no longer belongs to its
individuals (Bude, 2014). This reflects both Marxs and Durkheims description of alienation.
Inhabitants of skyscrapers may experience social alienation if no personal interaction is
happening with the people living in close proximity (Boundless, 2014). Furthermore, the
increased mobility that leads to more frequent changes of residence might increase this
effect.
Some debates also mention the increased ICT usage as an alienating factor from the physical
local environment, but most studies prove the increasing social network while
communication mostly remains between the same close contacts. So this might be
ambiguous as an explanation for not socializing with neighbors. A newspaper, though, had
this observant headline We are socialized to focus on our differences, rather than on our
similarities. (Stout, 2015) which might be an explanation for behaviour in urban areas. In
Durkheims words, society shifted from a mechanical human one with similar civil actors into
an organic one with dissimilar civil actors.
The End of Power
As democracies and the internet changed the way power is perceived and executed in some
parts of the world nowadays, it is useful to use some of the arguments made by Moises
Nam in his book The End of Power and to compare them with Marxs and Durkheims
concepts of alienation.

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Nam argues basically that the possibility for small actors to influence is leading to a dilemma
as they have the power to veto but not to create something new. Following this argument
societies are becoming more constrained and more anarchic at the same time as protests,
boycotts and vetoes seem to overcharge current governments. He then concludes that the
combination of a more demanding public and an inefficient government is dangerous and
increasing transparency (e.g. by WikiLeaks) damages public trust. Alienation within societies,
for Nam, is a greater threat to democracy than modern threat like China) or pre-modern
ones like radical Islam. (Loofbourow, 2015)
This seems quite similar to the danger Durkheim describes when he was writing about the
anomie caused by a lack of regulation, which hinders solidarity and leads to lost individuals
in society that cannot see the bigger aim anymore.
Nam goes further, though, by claiming that alienation is not the problem, but that the
problem of contemporary societies is that the alienated individuals are no longer alone
alienated. This means that they can find likeminded people and even though they do not feel
connected to their traditional institutions anymore, they identify with their new identity,
which might be for example radicals. Bigger issues cannot be solved by this system,
following Nam, as it is increasingly based on short-term incentives. The result is an
increasing number of bottom-up initiatives by wealthy micropowers facing traditional
superpowers. For Nam in the 21st century, power is easier to get, harder to use and
easier to lose. (Loofbourow, 2015)
Alienation on a larger scale has, thus, a tremendous contemporary relevance. In the sequent
chapter two possible pathologies of alienation on a larger scale will be analyzed more in
detail.
Terrorism as a Result of Double Alienation
For Durkheim alienation is connected to a significant discrepancy between the common
ideologies and values and their practicability in daily life. This leads to individuals feeling
uncomfortable with their environment without a position inside of its social order
(Boundless, 2014).
In a state of moral free-fall these individuals lack structure, constraint and moral guidance
for living their lives, which the weakened society cannot provide. Therefore, the individuals

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drift from one moral mindset to another. For Durkheim contemporary citizens desperately
want a more coercive society (Plummer, 2011).
A contemporary event, the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, might be interpreted as
an example of this trend combined with other factors. This section will only consider the
parts relevant for the concept of alienation and does not strive to provide a complete
analyze of the event, the situation in France nor a religious comparison. A recent article by
Dr. Awan, a specialist in Terrorism, provides insights, why terrorism could be associated with
modern forms of alienation. He discovered that religious avengers are mainly religiously
illiterate and have been raised mostly with only a rudimentary grasp of their parental
faith (Awan, 2015). This is for him, as Durkheim might agree, a kind of alienation from the
traditional background. Awan provides the example of two British Jihadist which were
carrying the books Islam for Dummies and The Koran for Dummies and the attackers of
Charlie Hebdo having a non-religious lifestyle in the past and been describes as an
occasional Muslim and a confused chameleon. This could be associated with Durkheims
non-regulated individual striving for integration.
Apart from this, Awan further describes a double alienation from both minority (ethnic or
parental) culture, and majority (mainstream or host society) culture (Awan, 2015) and an
unwillingness or incapability to fulfill either expectations. He concludes that this cultural
schizophrenia and the lack of belonging then leads to missing paradigms for both cultures
and religion becomes the new anchor of identity. Consequently, the description of a
global [] community of believers [] not recogniz[ing] color, race or nationality [ and ]
equally besieged from all sides [], then [...] becomes the sole locus of identity and
belonging. (Awan, 2015)
Awan also stresses that converts share certain characteristics and are more likely to accept
totalitarian visions as religion is providing meaning and purpose in the lives of those who
desperately lack it (Awan, 2015). An approval for this sees Awan for instance in the pursue
of conformity of suicide bombers. (Awan, 2015)
Modern terrorism, thus, seems to have elements that can be described by the alienation
concept of Durkheim.

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Suicide
In order to test Durkheims theory of suicide, this section will take the examples of China and
South Korea and analyze their suicide rates. It has to be stressed, that political and cultural
interest may manipulate the official figures and that in several third world countries the
intense use of some herbicides and insecticides in rural farming areas is known for causing
suicidal behaviour.
China was having one the highest suicide rates in the 1990s (mostly rural women) but now
has one of the lowest rates worldwide. Interestingly, it is also reported that the urbanization
is negatively correlated (The Economist, 2014).
This seems to be contradictory to the expectations of industrialization by both Marx and
Durkheim, taking into account that both regulation and integration are supposed to
decrease. Taking into account the Chinese culture juxtaposed to Western societies, there
might be an explanation in either a generally higher governmental regulation or a stronger
integration of friends due to the lack of siblings.
The later seems realistic as the highest decrease has been for rural women under 35. What
might also approve the influence of the one-child-politics is the increase in suicide rates
among the elderly. They are left with fewer caretakers in rural areas and more anonymity in
cities. (The Economist, 2014)
The example of South Korea is interesting as elderly suicides are the highest worldwide, right
after China. Loneliness and poverty are the main causes as small urban flats cannot sustain
three-generation households and paradigms regarding the obligations of children to come
up for their parents are shifting (The Economist, 2013). Loneliness would of course go along
with Durkheims theory of suicide, but the separation of different age groups seems to be
crucial especially comparing the decrease of suicide rates in young generations while
elderly rates are increasing significantly.

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Conclusion
The alienation effect, described a century ago by thinkers like Durkheim and Marx, has
apparently not disappeared.
Marx model, seeing society as a potential problem with its many rules, seems to remain
relevant for working environments and parts of urbanism, but has limitations explaining the
emotional state of unemployed and suicide statistics.
While Marx is mostly referring to the working conditions, Durkheim focuses on society and
its regulation more broadly. Nonetheless, even his model, where the absence of rules and
overregulation can be problematic, still seems to contradict effects of burnout and
boreout. On the other side Durkheims theory seems to be a good foundation to explain
contemporary issues like terrorism and suicide. His evolution of society into an organic one
with dissimilar civil actors where individuals drift from one moral mindset to another comes
close to the phenomena described by Awan as double alienation and the unproportional
high rate of converts in totalitarian religious groups. For Nam, alienation within societies is
one of the greatest threats to democracy.
Regarding the reasons of suicide, Durkheim concludes that there are two parameters
(integration and regulation). The contemporary figures in China show, that urbanization is
negatively correlated to suicide. At first this seems contradictory to the assumption that
integration and regulation is decreasing by urbanism, but by taking into account the culture
and separating different age groups the numbers might support Durkheims model.
The two models of Marx and Durkheim can also be differentiated by their proposed solution,
which Marx sees in the revolution of the proletariat, while Durkheim builds on the creation
of institutions. In order to analyze this further research on the recent protest of the Arab
Spring might be necessary to prove Marx theses. Durkheims proposal seems to be validated
by the increasing number of wealthy micropowers.
Concluding it seems that regarding todays global infrastructure and work distribution Marx
argumentation of alienation seems more suitable, whereas the alienation perceived by
alienated individuals e.g. due to urbanism can be better described by Durkheims model.

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13 01, [Online]
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