Anomie and Excessive Individualism and False Consciousness and Alienation

Individuals and Society In the 21st Century
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Individuals and Society In the 21st Century
Sociology refers to the study of human behavior and social norms. Society has been rapidly changing over the past several centuries. What was once a simplistic, unitary society has now become complex and dynamic, perhaps due to social, political, economic, and technological advancements. Durkheim and Marx are prominently known for their impeccable contributions to sociology. The two have undertaken enormous studies which are sued to date to explain various societal issues. In the modern era, human beings are confronted with multiple issues that sometimes affect their social relations and cause drifts in social norms. Durkheim considered anomie and excessive individualism to be the central problems of the modern era, while Marx focused on false consciousness and alienation.
Anomie is a general state of disunity and lack of cohesion on a larger communal scale, resulting from rapid social advancement. According to Durkheim, modern-era issues are caused by increased anomie. This implied that human behavior in the recent past has changed due to increased normlessness. He further notes that anomie has been caused by the notable differences between individual and group standards compared to the larger social standards. Individuals usually strive so hard to achieve certain goals set by society. The problem, however, arises when the conditions to access these goals are not equal for all the individuals within that society. This is what, in turn, breeds anomie. There is, therefore, some level of conflict that solely emanates from selfish interests. When these interests become so open, it breeds stiff competition, which results in a loss in general social ethics and moral compass. Modern society has completely weakened norms that existed in the past. Without strong social norms, human beings are now free to behave anyhow without any form of regulation.
According to Durkheim, increased individualism is one of the reasons why anomie has increased and significantly caused a destructive social change in Society (Alexander, 2014). On the other hand, Marx's perspective on modern-day society's ailments was different. He believed false consciousness and alienation were the most significant factors contributing to the ailed Society. Mark explained that the current society had failed economically and socially (Korumaz, 2019). Marx's perspective is that false consciousness has led modern society to have a distorted view of their economic and social status simply because people lack enough knowledge of their true state. He also stated that the working-class people in society are alienated from the economic processes governing their lives, leading to ...