Alienation and Affect

Alienation has objective, social causes, yet manifests as subjective, emotion-laden experience. Alienation, Adaptation and Affect analyses the ten kinds of alienation that are linked to specific primary, secondary, and tertiary emotions, synthesizing alienation theory and the sociology of emotions. The advancements the book addresses will benefit social psychiatry and sociology, and will resonate with large segments of contemporary populations experiencing alienation firsthand.

Alienation has objective, social-structural determinants, yet is experienced subjectively as a psychological state involving both emotion and cognition. Part I considers conceptualizations of alienation and affect in historical context, emphasizing Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Simmel, and Weber. Part II develops a theory of the affective bases of Seeman’s original five varieties of alienation – normlessness, meaninglessness, self-estrangement, cultural estrangement, and powerlessness. The book argues that both normlessness and cultural estrangement manifest in two distinct forms and involve distinct emotions. Thus it develops the affective bases of seven distinct varieties of alienation. This work synthesizes classical and contemporary alienation theory and the sociology of emotions. It contributes to political sociology, and finds application in social psychiatry and related health and social-service fields that treat traumatized and highly alienated individuals.