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SOCY 151: Foundations of Modern Social Theory

Lecture 09 - Marx's Theory of Alienation. Marx begins his intellectual life as a Young Hegelian, in the company of Bruno Bauer and others. The Young Hegelians, a radical group of scholars, intended to subject Hegel's theories to critical scrutiny. Eventually, Marx breaks with this tradition altogether by saying that alienation does not come from thoughts and therefore cannot be solved by ideas alone. Alienation comes from material conditions and can only be addressed by changing those conditions. Due to his radical, revolutionary ideas, Marx was forced to move around Europe quite a bit. In his lifetime, he saw his predictions about the uprising of the working classes come to fruition in some places, but he also saw these revolutions fail, including the short-lived Commune in France. Next time, we see how the young Marx who is occupied with Hegelian thought and the concept of alienation transitions to a more mature Marx with the concept of the capitalist mode of production.
(from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 09 - Marx's Theory of Alienation

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Marx's Early Life
[00:07:01] 2. The Critical Critic
[00:16:05] 3. Marriage and Early Career
[00:27:58] 4. The Paris Commune and Its Aftermath
[00:33:33] 5. The Paris Manuscripts and the Theory of Alienation

References
Lecture 9 - Marx's Theory of Alienation
Instructor: Professor Ivan Szelenyi. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - Hobbes: Authority, Human Rights and Social Order
Lecture 03 - Locke: Equality, Freedom, Property and the Right to Dissent
Lecture 04 - The Division of Powers- Montesquieu
Lecture 05 - Rousseau: Popular Sovereignty and General Will
Lecture 06 - Rousseau on State of Nature and Education
Lecture 07 - Utilitarianism and Liberty, John Stuart Mill
Lecture 08 - Smith: The Invisible Hand
Lecture 09 - Marx's Theory of Alienation
Lecture 10 - Marx's Theory of Historical Materialism (1)
Lecture 11 - Marx's Theory of Historical Materialism (cont.)
Lecture 12 - Marx's Theory of History
Lecture 13 - Marx's Theory of Class and Exploitation
Lecture 14 - Nietzsche on Power, Knowledge and Morality
Lecture 15 - Freud on Sexuality and Civilization
Lecture 16 - Weber on Protestantism and Capitalism
Lecture 17 - Conceptual Foundations of Weber's Theory of Domination
Lecture 18 - Weber on Traditional Authority
Lecture 19 - Weber on Charismatic Authority
Lecture 20 - Weber on Legal-Rational Authority
Lecture 21 - Weber's Theory of Class
Lecture 22 - Durkheim and Types of Social Solidarity
Lecture 23 - Durkheim's Theory of Anomie
Lecture 24 - Durkheim on Suicide
Lecture 25 - Durkheim and Social Facts