Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2005 / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 184 p. Includes abstract.

Thesis--Freiburg i. Br. / Bibliography : p. [186]-191.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 1985. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [267]-275).

Revision of the author's Thesis (Ph. D.)--entitled: al-ʻAmal al-muntij muʼashshir lil-intimāʼ. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 1, p. 97-107).

My dissertation examines the difference between European and American forms of alienation. My thesis is that while European forms of alienation tend to arise out of an ideology (that of bourgeois culture) that disparages the material world, encouraging an attitude of resignation toward the established order, American forms of alienation tend to arise out of an ideology (that of the frontier) that disparages the social world, encouraging an attitude of rugged individualism which also results in an attitude of resignation toward the established order. Thus, both forms of alienation end up affirming the given order, but in very different ways. These different ways should affect how social theorists analyze American culture and help them avoid totalizing analyses that blur the distinctions between American and European cultures. In order to comprehend the nature of alienation in post-1945 American society, I trace three forms of alienation from three spaces of possibility: that of (1) European bourgeois culture; (2) the American frontier; and (3) the American counterculture. These three spaces are examined successively in each chapter of this dissertation. In the "Introduction" I provide a general overview of the project, explaining its origins and significance. Then, I delineate the scope of this project, offer provisional ways of understanding of "alienation," "alienation in the European context," and "alienation in the American context," and discuss how my dissertation employs the metaphor of "space." Chapter One uses Herbert Marcuse's work to analyze the European space of possibility found in bourgeois culture. The first part of the chapter presents a general overview of Marcuse's thought. Here, I examine: Marcuse's "humanistic" reading of Marx, as found in "The Foundations of Historical Materialism"; the difference between Marcuse's interpretation of Marx and the "standard" mechanistic reading, including a discussion of Marcuse's criticisms of reductionist use of the base and superstructure model of historical materialism; and Marcuse's analysis of the revolutionary status of the proletariat under twentieth century conditions. The second part of Chapter One uses Marcuse's article "The Affirmative Character of Culture" to provide an account of bourgeois culture. This article, which describes affirmative culture as simultaneously regressive and progressive, provides the general framework for the entire dissertation. Chapter One ends with a discussion of One-Dimensional Man, where Marcuse provides his most detailed analysis of post-War culture. Here, I ask if there is a "refuge of hope" even in what is usually considered Marcuse's most pessimistic work. Chapter Two presents the nineteenth century American space of possibility, the frontier. I begin with Frederick Jackson Turner's and Jean de Crevècore's analyses of the American frontier as constitutive of the American character. Then, I move to a study of the material and ideological conditions underlying the culture of the frontier: the enclosure of the commons and the Protestant work ethic. Next, I ask if Marcuse can provide an analysis of American culture as distinct from European culture, and ask if we may consider Marcuse an "American philosopher." The chapter ends by considering the work of Paul Goodman, who provides an alternative understanding of American possibility, from the point of view of a native inculcated from birth with an American worldview. Chapter Three examines the central twentieth century American space of possibility, the counterculture. The first two parts of this chapter provide general histories of the American New Left of the 1960s and 1970s and the American counterculture of the same period. Here, I focus on how these movements interacted and how they were responding to similar experiences of alienation. Then I examine the primary material basis for both movements, which I take to be post-War economic expansion. The final two sections of Chapter Three attempt an interpretation of the American counterculture and the New Left through the use of Marcuse's aesthetic theory. The "Conclusion" restates the general argument of the dissertation, now with all of the details in place, examines two other reactions to alienation, political rollback and religious revivalism, asks what spaces of possibility may be emerging in the twenty-first century, and proposes some avenues for further research.

The deterioration of reason - defined as the faculty of thinking and its functioning in all human beings - is an essential question in Francophone Sub-Saharan literary and cinematographic fictions. This is one of many possible interpretations that can be derived from some novels and films produced during the period from 1950 to 2000 in this region. These cultural productions span an era marked in Africa by the "historical facts" of anticolonial struggles, decolonization, and (re) constructions of newly sovereign states that gained their independence from the European nations to which they had been subjected. The juxtaposition of these works leads to a critical realization: Half a century after the decolonization movements, African societies remain so dysfunctional that one is forced to ask if their inhabitants are still "normal," provided one can come to an agreement on what is normal. This speculation takes the form of a recurrent metaphor in the corpus: Africa is a continent ripped to shreds, irrevocably plunged into a dark night that has silenced reason. Taking up this metaphor, not only as a theme but also as a theoretical concern, I argue that the metaphoric uses of the night are an indication of a more critical reality, which is the intellectual journey of a population that has leapt into a state of impoverishment. I approach impoverishment both as the state of being deprived and the process leading to this deprivation, and I maintain my earlier characterization of intellectual as a synonym of reason. In this line, I describe intellectual impoverishment as the (progressive) loss of consciousness and rationality that befalls a large population of the continent. This loss is portrayed through the appearance and proliferation of various paradoxical figures that embody the "spiritual death" of the people. One portrayal of this death, the transformation of African populations into zombies, then serves to flesh out the concept of intellectual impoverishment. Thus, this dissertation investigates the socio-political processes through which critical thinking is annihilated in Sub-Saharan Africa, through an analysis of literary and cinematographic fictions by francophone authors of this region. This dissertation is written in French.

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur jordbrukare i Norrbotten upplever mekaniseringen inom jordbruket. De övergripande teorierna för uppsatsen behandlar Karl Marx och Robert Blauners alienation utifrån olika perspektiv samt Max Webers rationella ”järnbur”. Empirimaterialet grundar sig på sammanlagt nio jordbrukare genom tre fokusgrupps intervjuer och två semistrukturerade intervjuer. Genom en tematisk analys har följande teman identifierats: Arbete, Externa interaktioner, Jordbrukarrollen och Strategier. Uppsatsens resultat och analys visar att temat arbete skildrar hur arbetets utförande i förhållande till mekaniseringen förändrats. Jordbrukarna menar att positiva faktorer tillkommit som flexibilitet, mer frigjord tid, förbättrad arbetsmiljö, mer information och mindre behov till anställning. Här möjliggör mekaniseringen att bibehålla ett kreativt arbetsutförande, där tekniken kompletterar rollen som jordbrukare.  Resultatet visar även att jordbrukarna upplever tekniken som inte realiserande i förhållande till det huvudsakliga syftet för införandet. Här nämns anledningar som informationsöverbelastning, teknik som går sönder och en mindre närvarande jordbrukskultur. Där konsekvenserna av mekaniseringen som upplevs hindrande kan förstås av tekniken ses som att det aktiva subjektet utmanas av något yttre men även inte fungerande, där jordbrukaren blir oförmögen att kontrollera den direkta arbetsprocessen och därmed upplever meningslöshet som verkar alienerande.  Temat externa interaktioner beskriver hur jordbrukarna i största mån ser mekaniseringen som en möjlighet till att öka produktionen i förhållande till yttre faktorer. Detta kan förstås utifrån att jordbrukarna upplever att de inte äger sitt arbete eller produktion, då för vad de producerar styrs och förvärvas av andra. Jordbrukarna upplever en låg grad av självbestämmelse, vilken kan beskrivas som en upplevd maktlöshet då detta förhållande ses som opåverkbart. Resultatet visar hur jordbrukarrollen blivit mer administrativ och kontrollerade genom mekaniseringen i förhållande till den konventionella jordbrusrollen. Här är jordbrukarnas närvaro sekundär där det primära ansvaret förskjuts till tekniken eller externa experter. När arbetsuppgifterna blir allt för instrumentella hämmar detta jordbrukarens utveckling och kan ses som ett hot mot jordbrukarens yrkesidentitet och verkar alienerande. Temat strategier beskriver hur jordbrukarna utvecklar förhållningsätt i det som upplevs negativt genom mekaniseringen. Detta för att återta kontrollen av vad som verkar alienerande, där den upplevda friheten genom detta bidrar till att utveckla och förändra förhållningsättet för att kunna verka långsiktigt inom branschen. Detta innebär att man gör arbetsuppgifterna mindre alienerade genom att förändra dem.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / O tema trata da âEmancipaÃÃo Humanaâ em Marx a partir da superaÃÃo do âTrabalho Alienadoâ, numa nova ordem social produtiva. Objetivou-se compreender e explicitar o fenÃmeno da alienaÃÃo humana no processo de trabalho alienado da sociedade capitalista e as condiÃÃes teÃricas e prÃticas de sua superaÃÃo para efetivar a emancipaÃÃo plena do homem e, assim, o autodesenvolvimento de suas potencialidades humanas (sua individualidade). Analisou-se, entÃo, a arquitetura teÃrica da emancipaÃÃo humana em Marx, explicitando algumas categorias bÃsicas: alienaÃÃo (religiosa e econÃmica), propriedade privada, trabalho, divisÃo social do trabalho, socialismo e comunismo. Os possÃveis nexos entre elas conferem maior dimensÃo da problemÃtica da âemancipaÃÃoâ, enfocando o carÃter ontolÃgico-antropolÃgico da questÃo do ser social do homem no contexto da sua transformaÃÃo histÃrica. âEmancipaÃÃo humanaâ em Marx significa, por um lado, superar a estrutura social capitalista baseada na propriedade privada (dos meios de produÃÃo), no trabalho alienado e na divisÃo social (inÃqua) do trabalho; e, por outro lado, inaugurar uma sociabilidade comunal fundada na propriedade coletiva da produÃÃo, no trabalho livre, criativo e ativo e na âorganizaÃÃo consciente do trabalhoâ, a partir da regulaÃÃo de um âtempo disponÃvelâ e de um âsistema produtivo e cooperativoâ, estabelecido pelos trabalhadores associados. Portanto, a teleologia do pensamento emancipatÃrio em Marx à resgatar o carÃter positivo e/ou âtranscendenteâ do trabalho, como exteriorizaÃÃo do ser outro do homem (de sua segunda natureza) ou como meio de expressÃo da liberdade humana. O homem se realiza no trabalho na medida em que objetiva as suas forÃas essenciais, como resultado previamente estabelecido pela consciÃncia antecipadora da sua vontade criativa. Resgatar o carÃter genÃrico/universal do homem, enquanto desenvolvimento das suas faculdades fÃsicas e espirituais, à o imperativo cabal de efetivaÃÃo da liberdade humana em Marx. Assim, o eixo teÃrico marxiano à a crÃtica da sociedade burguesa, cimentada no antagonismo de classes sociais que dicotomiza a humanidade entre proprietÃrios e nÃo-proprietÃrios, exploradores e explorados e/ou excluÃdos, cuja discussÃo perpassa suas obras. O objetivo marxiano à fazer emergir a sociabilidade comunista em bases reprodutivas qualitativas que visem a satisfazer as reais e verdadeiras necessidades humanas, pondo fim à estrutura fetichista da produÃÃo capitalista. A revoluÃÃo proletÃria seria o motor do novo desenvolvimento histÃrico-social humano para se entrar na fase do reino da liberdade, isto Ã, na sociedade comunista; seria, portanto, o fim da prÃ-histÃria da humanidade e o inÃcio da verdadeira histÃria humana; entretanto, o comunismo nÃo seria o fim da histÃria da humanidade, mas o princÃpio energÃtico do desenvolvimento de uma nova humanidade em que o trabalho passaria a ser a expressÃo objetiva dos desejos criativos do homem; tornar-se-ia, assim, a ser sua primeira necessidade vital. O trabalho, nesse sentido, realizaria o âhomem totalâ, como diz Marx. / The issue concerns âhuman emancipationâ in Marx starting from the abolition of the âalienated laborâ, in a new productive social order. The objective is to understand and explain the phenomenon of human alienation in the labor process of the capitalist societyâs alienated labor and the theoretical and practical conditions of its abolition to achieve the entire manâs emancipation and, thus, the self-development of their human potentialities (their individuality). It was analyzed, then, the theoretical architecture of human emancipation in Marx, explaining some basic categories: alienation (religious and economic), private ownership, labor, labor social division, socialism and communism. The possible nexus among them give us a wider dimension of the âemancipationâ problems, focusing the ontological-anthropological character of the matter of manâs social being in its historic transformation context. âHuman emancipationâ in Marx means, on the one hand, to surpass the social capitalist structure based on the private ownership (of the production means), on the alienated labor and labor social division (iniquitous); and, on the other hand, to inaugurate a communal sociability based on the productionâs collective ownership, on the free, creative and active labor and on the âlabor conscious organizationâ, starting from the regulation of an âavailable timeâ and a âcooperative productive systemâ, established by the associated workers. Therefore, the teleology of the emancipation thought in Marx is to retrieve the positive and/or âtranscendentâ feature of the labor, as exteriorization of the other manâs being (their second nature) or as means of human freedom expression. Man fulfill themselves in the labor in so far as they objectify their essential forces, as a result previously established by the anticipative consciousness of their creative will. Retrieving the generic/universal character of man, as development of their physical and spiritual faculties, is the cabal imperative of realization of the human freedom in Marx. So, the Marxian theoretical axis is the criticism over the bourgeois society, cemented on the antagonism among social classes which dichotomizes the humanity in owners and non-owners, explorers and explored and/or excluded ones, whose discussion surpass its achievements. The Marxian objective is to cause the emergence of the communist sociability in qualitative reproductive bases which aim to fulfill the real and true human necessities, putting an end to the fetishist structure of the capitalist production. The proletarian revolution would be a motor of the new human historic-social development to enter the phase of the freedom kingdom, that is, the communist society; it would be, therefore, the end of the humanityâs prehistory and the beginning of the human true history. Nevertheless, the communism would not be the end of the humanityâs history, but the energetic beginning of the development of a new humanity in which the labor would become the objective expression of manâs creative desires, it would become, then, their first vital necessity. The labor, in this sense, would create the "total man", as Marx said.

In many works of modern fiction the theme of alienation is presented in terms of a spiritual hunger or starvation. Concurrently images and metaphors of distaste crop up as the inevitable adjuncts to feelings of spiritual deprivation or hunger. The metaphor of distaste is projected onto the image of modern urban society and is consciously or unconsciously blamed for the hero's sense of estrangement. Rilke's presentation of this problem in The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge centres on a young man's self-observation during a period of spiritual as well as national exile. The Rilkean hero's emphasis on childhood memories contributes a great deal towards establishing the premise that the modern hero's feeling of anomie or spiritual hunger is the consequence of a character predisposition towards introversion, daydreaming, and creativity, in short the "Tonio Kroeger" portrait of a specific type of artistic temperament. In Hamsun's Hunger and Sartre's Nausea the two respective heroes are presented in terms of their current psychological reactions to a large, fundamentally anonymous city. In all three novels I have focussed on the themes of hunger and distaste and attempted to explain the mariner in which these psychologically motivated perceptions become confused with one another (in the mind of the protagonist) and in their confusion reflect the process of an estrangement which begins with an estrangement from society and ends with an estrangement from self. While little reference is made to psychological theory, the particular approach of this study reflects indirectly my reading of the psychoanalytical writing of Dr. Edmund Bergler. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Den här studien syftar till att, genom samtal med lärare i grundskolan, undersöka motivation och alienation. Intresset för studieobjektet kommer från New public managements införande i offentlig verksamhet och utvecklingen som skett därefter. Studien består av åtta djupgående intervjuer som har fått ta karaktären av ett samtal. Intervjuerna utfördes enskilt och respondenterna bjöd på varierande historier med en likartad kärna. Dessa samtal är senare beskrivna med hjälp av teoribildning om alienation och motivation som har fått agera parallellt. Med hjälp av self-determination theory analyserades samtalen som visade att den inre motivationen hos respondenterna är beroende av att bygga relationer med eleverna för att uppnå känslan av autonomi och kompetens. Dessa relationer är avgörande för skoldagen och undervisningen. Samtalen delgav oss också moment som respondenterna upplevde förstörde tiden med eleverna. Många av dessa moment var av beslut som inte läraren själv hade gjort utan baserades på organisatoriska mål. Upplevelser som framkommer under samtalen har drag av främliggörande, meningslöshet och maktlöshet inför dessa beslut men även inför yrket, resultaten och styrdokument. Sammanfattningsvis är samtalen med lärarna givande för dig som vill arbeta med människor eftersom de delger en nyanserad bild av en tudelad och omtalad situation.