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ALIENATION: CRITIQUE AND ALTERNATIVE FUTURES 21

In a similar vein, we might note the recent conditions (among others, see Coontz, 1997;
explosion of the high tech video games, espe- Hochschild, 1986; Rubin, 1994). In a recent
cially the violent shooter games that now article, ‘Loving Alienation: the Contradictions
might even include sexuality such as Grand of Domestic Work,’ Martha Gimenez (2005),
Theft Auto. The moralistic critique would con- long one of the strongest voices for a
demn the games as sinful, inciting violence, Marxist, materialist feminism, shows, how-
wanton sexuality, and/or violent sexuality. ever, that if alienation is understood dialecti-
Notwithstanding the explosion in the popu- cally, experiences quite antithetical to the
larity of such games, violent crime among way capitalism typically operates can also
young men has plummeted, and most youth be found in the realm of work in the home.
crimes are for drug use or sale. The classical Gimenez contends that neither the radical
critique might say that these games foster Marxist views of oppression, nor the bour-
alienation by rendering players powerless geois illusions of ultimate fulfillment,
in face of an outside force they themselves capture the class-based variations and the
produced, and/or by fostering a withdrawal dialectical nature of domestic labor. Upon
from the social and indifference to the com- close examination, domestic work can be
munity. But closer examination shows that seen as a set of socially necessary, contradic-
despite all the imagined sins, horrors, and tory activities. Some are unpleasant, but
imputed alienation fostered by such games, some are constructive with the potential to
in practice, they are most typically played in fuel the emergence of a critical conscious-
groups in which the players demonstrate and ness, antithetical to the alienated world of
experience a great deal of agency – while capitalist economic and social relations.
playing together in cohesive groups. Finally, Gimenez points out two central factors that
it has been shown that an unintended conse- affect the impact of household experiences:
quence of playing video games has been varying conditions and opportunities for
greater skill in geometry and greater hand – eye empowerment. For one thing, the marital or
coordination, skills quite important for jobs couple status, age, school/work conditions
like piloting airplanes. and/or location of the household unit in the
Alternative futures may also be discovered class system affect how alienating or gratify-
in the mundane context of maintaining ing household tasks may be. For another, the
households. Considering the household as domestic mode of production also offers
the proverbially alienating site, some femi- realms of creativity, recognition, and empow-
nist researchers who have built on (a phallo- erment, allowing for experiences of agency,
centric) Marxism have seen the household as self-realization, caring, reciprocity, and
exclusively the ‘domestic mode of production,’ cooperation. These material bases are likely
the sphere of patriarchal subjugation, sexual to spur the emergence of needs and values
exploitation of women, and alienating that counter the selfish, competitive, and
domestic labor. Touted as a ‘private sphere,’ dehumanizing world of capitalist work and
households are described as being designed social relations.
to provide the illusion of a realm of love, The complex dialectic of alienation and
warmth, intimacy, and authenticity cut off de-alienation that is played out in domestic
from the domains of public institutions. It is arrangements can also be observed in schools.
often emphasized that they are in fact charac- Gibson (2005) examines the intricacies of
terized by dehumanizing indifference to relations in communities in and near San
others and the calculating attitude of urban Diego where there have been several inci-
life, all of which serve the ends of capitalism. dents of high school shootings. In a richly
Households are frequently documented as a detailed analysis, Gibson shows that alien-
social location in advanced capitalism where ated actions stem from attempts by schools to
women work under alienating, exploitative quantify learning so as to find reassurance of