Losing one’s place in the world: rethinking alienation as a diagnostic for our time

Abstract

This special issue reclaims alienation as a critical concept within contemporary social theory, arguing for its renewed relevance in understanding the complexities of twenty-first-century life. Drawing on anthropological case studies from diverse global contexts, the contributions explore when, how, and why experiences of alienation emerge, and what conditions make our current moment particularly susceptible to them. In this introduction, we outline the theoretical and epistemological framework that underpins the issue as a whole. We argue that alienation should be approached not as a clearly defined pathology, but as a diagnostic lens through which to engage with the concerns, contradictions, and discontents that shape everyday life. This perspective allows centring lived experiences and using them as a foundation for theorising the broader structures and forces at play in the contemporary world. We suggest that keeping the focus on the realm of daily life allows us to attend both to the diffuse, often unspoken experiences associated with alienation and to the specific narratives and genealogies of estrangement that circulate in particular places and times.