The situation 'when people do not enjoy work, and see it as something they have to do only in order to survive' is best described as :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Alienation
Option (1) Exploitation — Incorrect. Exploitation is the unfair use of another person’s labour for one’s own gain, as in forced, unpaid or under-paid labour. It is about what is taken from the worker, not about how the worker feels about the work itself.
Option (2) Discrimination — Incorrect. Discrimination refers to actual behaviour towards another group or individual, as when a person is refused a job because of their gender or religion. It is something done to a person by others, not the feeling of finding one’s own work joyless.
Option (3) Alienation — Correct. Industrialisation brings a detailed division of labour: people produce only one small part of a product, do not see the end result, and find the work repetitive and exhausting. Marx called this situation alienation, when people do not enjoy work and see it as something they have to do only in order to survive.
Option (4) Marginalisation — Incorrect. Marginalisation is the pushing of a group to the edge of society, where it is denied a fair share of resources and a voice, as the adivasis have been through the loss of forests and repeated displacement. It describes a group’s place in society, not a worker’s attitude to work.
NCERT (2025-26): “5.1 Images of Industrial Society … Industrialisation involves a detailed division of labour. People often do not see the end result of their work because they are producing only one small part of a product. The work is often repetitive and exhausting. Yet, even this is better than having no work at all, i.e., being unemployed. Marx called this situation alienation, when people do not enjoy work, and see it as something they have to do only in order to survive, and even that survival depends on whether the technology has room for any human labour.” |