Marx spoke about workers being alienated from their work in different ways, one way was how they were actually alienated from the things that they produced. He said that this occurred as a result of the industrial revolution when people moved from a mainly agrararian society to a manufacturing society. Before this shift, there were craftsmen that created a product from start to finish, such as barrel makers. But after this shift, things such as barrels could be made on an in a factory by one of many people. This was what he meant by alienation from the products they produced. Instead of being able to craft a product such as a barrel, to have control of it from the time you picked the materials to the manner in which it was sold, you become an anonymous cog in a large barrel making machine.

How does that relate to working in a call center? More to come in part II...

Click here for part II