ERIC Number: EJ1488707
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Dec
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-2004
EISSN: EISSN-1741-5446
Available Date: 2025-10-07
Twisted at the Root: Capitalist Alienation, Its Re-Inscription, and Implications for Education
Educational Theory, v75 n6 p1002-1022 2025
Capitalism inheres alienation as a fundament of modern life, twisting the root of being such that a sense of pervasive estrangement becomes the condition undergirding much of our phenomenal existence. Alienation, I argue, formed in the cleavage of capital mediation, leaves us reinscribing its tenor across multiple spheres, as we are compelled to not only maximize capitalist growth, but also maintain the fullness of capitalism beyond the economic realm. To locate this argument, I begin with a brief description of Marx's analysis of capital as an alienating force. In the second section of the article, I employ Heidegger's existential analytic to argue that capitalist alienation is a perversion that shifts and informs how we exist, as we are called not only to accumulate but also to justify capitalism as a reifying force. I approach the analysis by looking at three phenomena: first, the issue of transcendental debt; second, the emergence of neoliberal idle talk as a supplement to capitalism; third, the oppression of the built environment, as capitalist efficiencies are prioritized in a globalizing world. Given the robustness of phenomenal encounters with capitalism, it is increasingly difficult to argue that education might offer solutions for issues of alienation. Nonetheless, this very prevalence is what makes the stakes of some kind of educational response clear. As such, I conclude the article with an exploration of what might be done to disrupt capitalist tendencies through a pedagogy of respite.
Descriptors: Social Systems, Alienation, Neoliberalism, Physical Environment, Global Approach, Education, Philosophy
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Faculty of Education, University of Windsor

Peer reviewed
Direct link
