Alienation: another contested Marxian construct in epidemiology and public health

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,…

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