The Alienated Character of Leisure
Is leisure under capitalism simply an illusionary concept that eventually generates more of the same?
Much Marxist writing is rooted in the rejection of human labor as something exploited on behalf of capitalist interests. For this reason, Marxist ideology is primarily associated with the workplace, but in late capitalism, alienation has arguably augmented itself into a cultural phenomenon that surpasses being just a byproduct of the workplace.
It seems fair to claim that the introduction of leisure time has eliminated, or at least assuaged, the immense feelings of alienation across the workforce. When we are affronted with alienating feelings at work, we can comfort ourselves in the knowledge that, post-work, we can exercise our free will to dissolve into our desired leisures.
However, L. Hinman’s paper Marx’s theory of play, leisure and unalienated praxis (1978) suggests the opposite. He writes that
“…the gradual increase in free time serves to reinforce and perpetuate the fundamental alienation of labour.”
This is because, according to him, leisure is “dominated by private property.” If we are to consider Hinman’s perspective, the leisure we comfort ourselves with quickly fades into an illusion. But to completely overshadow the enjoyment we gain from leisure activity in the name of alienated labor feels overly pessimistic. Hinman acknowledges this and observes that there is some value involved in leisure, but “value only insofar as it enhances our ability to be productive workers.”
A pessimistic account, but one not unfounded in reality. Indeed, there is a constant sleuth of capitalist propaganda that seeks to marry happy, healthy hobbies with the cultivation of productive, successful workers. Here, the path of post-work leisure becomes murky. In engaging with taxing and active leisure, we are conditioning ourselves into a leisurely state of self-valorization, wherein the conditions of our leisure are scaffolded around our increased ability to work productively.
And what of the ‘non-productive’ forms of leisure? Surely past times such as meditation, and reading are pure hobbies that are in and of themselves devoid of the narrative of alienation? Hinman suggests otherwise:
“… the ‘in itself’ character of leisure activity is justified only as a way to increase productivity. The worker is alienated in the sense his leisure activity only has meaning and value in relation to increased productivity is recognized.”
For Hinman, even ‘low-impact’ hobbies represent the alienated condition of labor. This type of leisure provides the worker with the time to rejuvenate well enough to more efficiently alienate themselves at work and little else. Workplace alienation is so omnipresent that even leisure is born at the expense of overcoming it.
In Das Kapital, Marx claims that
‘The driving motion and determining purpose of capitalist production is the self-valorization of capital to the greatest possible extent, i.e the greatest possible production of surplus value, hence the greatest possible exploitation of labour-power by the capitalist.”
As capitalism ingresses further into our leisure time, it seems as though we are ossifying into the same systematic alienation where the very nature of Marx’s valorization process has seeped into the character of leisure.
Under this pessimist view, there has been a complete overshadowing of leisure in the name of alienated labor. And thus, leisure is simply a continuation of the alienation we experience at work.
