Is there a place for affect in studying alienation?

Yuill, Chris

Abstract

During the 1960s and 1970s alienation was, in the parlance of Nisbet (1966), one of the core units of sociological study. A quick trawl through the literature of the time easily identifies a burgeoning and expansive field that drew on material mainly from North America and Europe. Weighty philosophical tracts explored the theoretical dimensions of alienation in a capitalist society, while a raft of empirical work sought to investigate levels of alienation in workplaces and the wider society. From the 1980s onwards however interest in the concept of alienation waned for reasons external and internal to the academy. The decline of what can be seen as the wider Marxist project after the fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Berlin Wall in the 1990s signalled closing time for those taking the writings of Marx as their reference point for alienation, whilst the linguistic turn ushered in by followers of the likes of Foucault and Derrida witnessed a rejection of many ideas – and not just alienation – that had been a core part of the sociological tradition prior to the 1980s.

Citation

YUILL, C. 2018. Is there a place for affect in studying alienation? Journal of political power [online], 11(1), pages 120-124. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/2158379x.2018.1433761

• Journal Article Type: Book Review
• Acceptance Date: Feb 1, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Feb 5, 2018
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2018
• Deposit Date: Feb 16, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 11, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Political Power
• Print ISSN: 2158-379X
• Electronic ISSN: 2158-3803
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 120-124
• Item Discussed: TENHOUTEN, W.D. 2016. Alienation and affect. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9871138777705.
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/2158379x.2018.1433761
• Keywords: Alienation; Sociological study; Capitalist society; Powerlessness; Meaninglessness; Self-estrangement; Cultural estrangement; Normlessness
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1205808