Proceedings of the International Conference on Social Sciences
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Reframing Alienation: Innovations, Limits, and Challenges in Contemporary Critical Theory
PhD candidate Irene Rapanelli
ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this contribution is to demonstrate that alienation, after years of absence, has returned to the debate in critical theory in a renewed form, thanks to members of the new generation of the Frankfurt School. To this end, it is useful to focus on Alienation by Rahel Jaeggi, a work that redefines the concept, shifting it toward a relational paradigm and rethinking the appropriative model. Jaeggi offers a view in which alienation is not separation but rather a “relation of relationlessness”. Jaeggi’s model has generated significant attention but has also sparked criticism. The most relevant concerns focus on the tendency to overlook the role of social struggles and the promotion of an individualistic resolution that diminishes the emancipatory potential of alienation. Another important critique concerns conflict, as Jaeggi conceives appropriation as a transformative but harmonizing process, which minimizes the generative function of conflict in contexts of subordination. Finally, some critics have noted the absence of a deeper exploration of expropriation dynamics. Jaeggi’s model appears to lack an analysis of the central role of economic and social expropriation, which is essential for understanding alienation within contexts of inequality and exploitation.While Jaeggi’s work is considered valuable, it should be viewed as an important epistemological advance, yet not a conclusive point in the study of a concept that continues to emerge with vibrancy and utility as a tool for understanding new structures of domination.
keywords: appropriation; emancipation; social struggles; capitalism; expropriation