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Alienation: another contested Marxian construct in epidemiology and public health
  1. Carles Muntaner1,2,
  2. Virginia Gunnj3,
  3. Seth J Prins4
  1. 1Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, Division of Social and Division of Behavioural & Social Sciences, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  2. 2JHU-UPF Public Policy Center and BSM Barcelona School of Management, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
  3. 3School of Nursing, Cape Breton University, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
  4. 4Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Carles Muntaner; carles.muntaner{at}utoronto.ca

https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2025-223840

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    Marxian constructs, such as social class,1–3 are contested in hegemonic capitalist economies since they undermine the understanding and the morality of this system. Another example is alienation, which is experiencing4 5 both a conceptual and empirical yet only seldomly used in epidemiology and public health. The leading article3 should be praised for discussing the continued relevance of alienation, particularly its implications for physical and mental health. While it offers valuable insights from different theories, the mixing of incompatible theoretical traditions presents significant problems (eg, Marxist theory of alienation (realist, sociological) alongside, most notably, Seeman’s psychological idealist approach). This mix of opposing theories separates capitalism from alienation, thereby undermining Marxian alienation’s critique, as we argue here.

    Marxian alienation: an outcome of capitalist relations of production

    Alienation boasts a rich history of early philosophical contributions. Greek and Iberian Stoics, Christian Theologians, Rousseau, Hegel, and Feuerbach define alienation in philosophical terms, yet it is Marx who redefines the construct in a sociological theory of the consequences of work under capitalism,6 with relevance to health. Alienation arises from exploitative production relations. Marxian alienation …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors CM had the original idea, did the literature search, and wrote the first draft. VG added ideas to the argument, writing and refining the expression all through the article, as well as to the structure and tone of the manuscript. SJP added key ideas and arguments, as well as comments and edits.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.