ALIENATION OF LABOUR IN KARL MARX: A PHILOSOPHICAL EVALUATION OF WORKERS CONDITION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

In the annals of history, philosophers especially the existentialists, historians, political scientists and sociologists have in one way or the other occupied themselves with the universal problem of man and the world. This could be because they see man and the world as objects of (philosophical) enquiry, and  man, according to Protagoras, the measures of all things (homo mensura). Issues pertaining to man in his concrete existence thus become an enterprise that draws both sympathetic and intellectuall attention of scholars. In the history of thought, Karl Marx is regarded as one of the foremost figures who have sought to define the ideal status of man in the society and equally correct the anomalies thereof. He made his mark by identifying the existing class struggle and wanton domination of one class by the other. This domination is evidenced in the politics of the state and the abysmal alienation of labour. This research work therefore aims at unearthing Karl Marx’s theory of alienation of labour. The theory is based on stabling equal human equal right aimed at destroying the existing social class and enthrones a classless. Despite its apparent shift in thinking pattern, the researcher will apply Marx’s theory of alienation in evaluating the condition of workers In the present day Nigeria where workers are packed in factories. Ministries, commissions and parastatals but poorly treated and extremely underpaid. The research work will in the end offer a pragmatic panacea towards making the condition of workers in Nigeria better.