Alienation

Definition

1. The process by which many smaller endogroups are created within a wider endogroup. This can happen organically as a wider endogroup dissolves or weakens, and it is also a political strategy used to weaken rival endogroups. 2. A separation created between two or more endogroups. 3. The separation of a part of the self, such as seen in those with refracted or amputated cores.

Examples

The fragmentation of a political movement into competing factions. An individual who has been conditioned to see their own emotional needs as the enemy. The deliberate sowing of discord between allied communities by a dominant power.

Theory

In Binding Chaos theory, alienation is both a natural decay process of endogroups and a weaponised political strategy. Empires and dominant endogroups deliberately create alienation among subject populations to prevent organised resistance. At the personal level, alienation of the core self is a form of internal subjugation.

Etymology

From Latin ‘alienatio’ (a transfer of ownership, separation), from ‘alienare’ (to estrange), from ‘alienus’ (belonging to another). The term has been used in philosophy since the Enlightenment, notably by Hegel and Marx, to describe estrangement from one’s labour, nature, or self.

Origin

Adapted from Marxist and Hegelian traditions by Heather Marsh, extended to include interpersonal and intrapersonal dimensions within the Binding Chaos framework.

Synonyms

Estrangement, Fragmentation, Dissociation, Separation

Antonyms

Connection, Integration, Solidarity (exosocial), Exosocial Expansion

Related Terms

Endogroup, Amputated Core, Refraction, Dissociation, Endosocial Membrane