title: [Work of the mentally ill in France. A story of a side-stepped social usefulness.].
abstract: The concept of "mental alienation" in a etymological and philosophical sense means "a subjective process by which an individual becomes stranger to himself". Alienation covers the feeling of powerlessness (being unable to influence the course of events), the absence of recognition of social norms leading to mental and social isolation, finally, lack of significance (not understanding the world in which we live). Following Engels and Marx, the modern worker, like the mentally ill, is also touched by a kind of alienation, this time objective. Like mental illness, work renders the individual a stranger to himself and leads to multiple forms of enslavement, by the absence of power on his conduct, by the blind obedience to social norms, and by the reification of the alienated product of labour of its human essence leading to the loss of meaning (Rosner, 1967).
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ward