Please read the case study below and answer the following questions.

Question

Ellen Claasen, is a 21-year old South African woman who works in a factory. Ellen got pregnant in high school and then dropped out of school. She only obtained grade 10. Three years after she left school she eventually got work at a factory that makes tin cans (for canned food).



Ellen has been working at the factory for two years and still does exactly the same work. Three men cut the tin according to a template, and the Ellen and about 100 other women solder the cans together. The factory gets extremely hot in summer and ice cold in winter because the building mainly consists of zinc. The women are exposed to gasses while they solder and often by lunchtime, Ellen can feel her lungs burning.



It takes quite long to complete one tin can and there is a certain quota she has to finish everyday – the women seldom succeed in making the quota, and thus they usually work overtime for an hour or so, without payment. Their supervisor, the factory owner’s wife, is very strict and often makes sarcastic comments when someone is absent from work due to illness (she has also fired a woman who stayed off work for two days). Thus Ellen goes to work even when she is feeling very ill.



Ellen and the other women have heard rumours that the owner of the factory plans to buy a machine that will be operated by one man. She fears that she is going to lose her job. She and the other women have decided that they are going to join a union affiliated with COSATU as soon as possible.

Ellen’s work bores her and she cannot wait to go home at night. She wishes she could find other work, but seeing that she still lives with her parents (and only her mother also has a job) she has to continue to work to support them, her baby and herself.

From the case study, which one of Marx’s aspects of alienation DOES apply in this case?

A.
Alienated from the product

B.
Alienated from the process

C.
Creativity has been taken away

D.
All of the above

Answer 1

From the case study, several aspects of Marx's theory of alienation are indeed present in Ellen's situation.

A. Alienated from the product: Ellen and the other women are engaged in repetitive, monotonous work that does not allow them to take pride in or feel a connection to the final product (the tin cans). Their labor is a means to an end (earning a paycheck) rather than a fulfilling or meaningful endeavor. They are not able to see the value or utilize their creativity in the products they produce.

B. Alienated from the process: Ellen's job requires her to work under difficult conditions with strict quotas and time pressures. Her work is determined by external demands, with little room for her own input or control over how the task is performed.

C. Creativity has been taken away: The nature of Ellen's work is highly monotonous, with set tasks that do not allow for personal expression or creativity. The lack of variation and the authoritarian oversight of her supervisor contribute to this loss of creative engagement in her work.

Given these considerations, D. All of the above accurately captures the essence of Ellen's alienation based on the described conditions of her employment. Thus, the best answer is:

D. All of the above.