Macro versus micro remedies for alienation in the workplace

Manifestations of alienation are ubiquitous in modern society and are not limited to the workplace. The paradigm of alienation as delineated by Karl Marx is a valuable tool for understanding this phenomenon at societal and organizational levels. In addition, comprehension of this model can assist decision-makers in formulating better diagnoses and more effective solutions.

A review of the major points of Marx's three forms of alienation is described as a basis for examining the manifestations of alienation in society and the workplace. Subsequently, the author indicates societal solutions offered by selected scholars.

In examining the problem of estrangement in the workplace, it is clear that managers could identify the forces causing alienation more precisely through an understanding of Marx's paradigm. This knowledge would enable managers to select appropriate remedies to ameliorate the condition.

What the workers want most, as more than 100 studies in the past 20 years show, is to become masters of their immediate environments and to feel that their work and they themselves are important--the twin ingredients of self-esteem. Workers recognize that some of the dirty jobs can be transformed only into the merely tolerable, but the most oppressive features of work are felt to be avoidable: constant supervision and coercion, lack of variety, monotony, meaningless tasks, and isolation. An increasing number of workers want more autonomy in tackling their tasks, greater opportunity for increasing their skills, rewards that are directly connected to the intrinsic aspects of work, and greater participation in the design of work and the formulation of their tasks.

--Work in America     

Perception vs. Reality: Slovak Views of the Hungarian Minority in Slovakia

After Slovakia and the Czech lands separated in 1993, concerns arose regarding Slovakia's ethnic Hungarian, or Magyar, minority. There were concerns about the Slovak government's attitude toward its considerable Magyar population as well as worries about the Hungarian government's stance regarding Magyars in Slovakia and the Slovak-Hungarian border. Frequently over the past decade, the topic of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia has been manipulated by politicians. In both Slovakia and Hungary, Slovak and Hungarian politicians alike have tried to expose “injustices” or “excesses” for political gain. Indeed, the maneuvering of national politicians might lead one to perceive that the reality of contemporary Slovak-Magyar relations was tenuous and acrimonious. But politics aside, what does the average Slovak think of the Magyar minority and Magyar-Slovak relations generally? To what extent do the political debates encompass their actual concerns and deeply held views? In June 2002, I visited Slovakia and pursued these questions in a series of informal interviews with an ad hoc sample of natives, aged 28 to 78. Among them were bankers, administrators, educators, small business owners, doctors, tour guides, taxi drivers, accountants, and one retiree. My quest to find out what ordinary Slovak citizens think about Slovak-Hungarian relations explored both long-held perceptions and present-day thinking. Very often I discovered a marked divergence between perception and reality where the Hungarian minority was concerned. Slovakia is home to a variety of non-Slovak cultures and languages, including Czech, Ukrainian/Ruthenian, and Romany (gypsy). But the largest cultural and linguistic minority are the c. 600,000 Hungarians, who comprise 11% of the population overall and up to 87% in certain towns and villages in southern Slovakia. For example, a 1994 report by the British Helsinki Human Rights Group (BHHRG) lists the southwestern Slovak towns of Dunajska Streda and Komarno as 87.26% and 72.27% Hungarian, respectively.     

Social mobility in rural Russia, 1995–2003

Using panel survey data from three Russian villages, this article examines rural social mobility in post-communist Russia. The article finds that contemporary rural social mobility is different from that which existed during the Soviet period. During the Soviet period, rural social mobility was linked to changes in profession and the direction of mobility was primarily upward. In the post-Soviet period, rural mobility is linked to increasing income differentiation and inequality. In the post-communist period, both upward and downward social mobility have occurred. The article examines the characteristics of upwardly and downwardly mobile households. It then analyses the factors that affect mobility through regression analysis of human capital and behavioural models. The article concludes that household labour continues to have the single greatest causal effect on rural mobility.     

试析伊朗核问题的困境与走势

2011年11月8日,国际原子能机构公布报告认为,伊朗核计划可能具有军事用途,使伊朗核问题再次成为国际社会关注的焦点。伊朗核问题实质上是美国与伊朗围绕各自的国家战略目标进行的战略博弈,双方从战略互信的缺失发展到战略疑虑的加剧。新一轮伊朗核问题与当前复杂的中东局势交织在一起,加剧了地区的紧张局势。尽管目前的伊核问题形势复杂,但对相关各方来说,通过和平手段解决矛盾与冲突仍是最可行、也是最现实的方式。