Essay --

SOCI 201A: Professor Hyslop Francesca Surraco Social Theory Final Exam QUOTE #1: â€Å" †¦[the] worker is related to the product of his labor as to an alien object †¦ the more the worker exhausts himself, the more powerful the alien world of objects which he creates over and against himself becomes, the poorer he and his inner world become, the less there is that belongs to him as his own†. - Marx (Kamenka p. 134). In this quote, Karl Marx discusses his theory of alienation. This quote describes how capitalist the worker becomes alienated from the products they make, which further alienates them from aspects of their human nature mostly due to social stratification (bourgeoisie and proletarians). Their alienated work becomes a routine, mechanical activity directed by the bourgeoisie. The selected text in Kamenka this quote is from discusses the laws of political economy which examine how the â€Å"more wealth the worker produces the more his production increases in power and scope. The poorer he becomes the more commodities the worker produces the cheaper a commodity he becomes†. There was an example spoken in class, I believe of a blacksmith, which highlighted pre-capitalist working conditions. A blacksmith would own his own shop, set his own hours, determine his own working conditions, shape his own product, and have some say in how his product is bartered or sold. However, the prolet ariat under capitalism works in order to earn money to live. Despite the fact the worker puts their life into the product; they are alienated from their product that they no longer own. The capitalist has purchased the proletariat's labor-power in exchange for exclusive ownership over the proletariat's products and the profit made from the products. The pr... ...ident in this quote. In my personal opinion, I do believe Foucault’s argument, that knowledge and power are interconnected, is indeed valid mostly due to the fact that his argument is still relevant in terms of the power relations present in our society’s current institutions. This is exemplified by how the prison system is still run with heavy surveillance of prisoners even more so with the technological advances (Security cameras, computers for documentation and filing, etc†¦) that have occurred since the time period Foucault discusses. This quote ultimately reveals how members of society gain and maintain positions of power and further produce more knowledge by having knowledge, as exemplified by the penal system in our society discussed by Foucault. Work discussed: Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Pantheon, 1977. Print.