The co-existence of human development and alienation

What is it about?

On the one hand, people are alienated in their labor. On the other hand, they still gain better well-beings so their human development is improving. The coexistence of alienation and human development reveals two implications: First, no matter how human are developed, there is alienation as a weakness in the process of human development. Second, human development raise a hope to eradicate the state of alienation. Several Marxist implications have been drawn for human development discourse. First, human development needs to be maintained and evaluated not only at present but also in the future. Second, the concept of ‘human development’ needs to engage with the world of work, where human beings suffer insecurities affected by alienation and commodity fetishism. Third, non-market relations (family relations and friendship) are good indicators for evaluating human development.

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Why is it important?

My paper is a pioneer research which connects two critical issues of alienation and human development. The problem of alienation had been one of the central research interests in mid-20th century until 1970s but the attention on it declined quickly after that. The issue of human development had emerged rapidly since late 1980s and early 1990s, especially with Amartya Sen's contribution of capability approach and his philosophical vision "development as freedom". Both issues determine strongly to the qualify of human life. Understanding any of them without the other is insufficient to find practical ways for improving living condition in particular and human emancipation in general. My paper is unique for discussing two conflicting states of alienation and human development in relation to each other.

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