In sociology and critical social theory, alienation refers to an individual's estrangement from traditional community and others in general. It is considered by many that the atomism of modern society means that individuals have shallower relations with other people than they would normally. This, it is argued, leads to difficulties in understanding and adapting to each other's uniqueness (see normlessness). It is also sometimes referred to as commodification, emphasizing the compatibility of capitalism with alienation (a common theme of the early work of Karl Marx; see Marx's theory of alienation). Many sociologists of the late 19th/early 20th century were concerned about alienating effects of modernization. German sociologists Georg Simmel and Ferdinand Tönnies have written rather critical works on individualization and urbanization. Simmel's "Philosophie des Geldes" ("Philosophy of Money") describes how relationships become more and more mediated through money. Tönnies' "Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft" ("Community and Society") is about the loss of primary relationships such as family bonds in favour of goal oriented secondary relationships. The American sociologist C. Wright Mills conducted a major study of alienation in modern society with "White Collar", 1951, describing how modern consumption-capitalism have shaped a society there you have to sell your "personality", besides your work.
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