Coyote's Dreamwidth Blog

Severance employs a fantastical scenario at an imaginary company to depict a phenomenon that’s very real: the systematic alienation of labor. This theme has been widely remarked upon by those familiar with the framework, but not everyone is already familiar, and so it warrants explanation. To that end, this analysis presents a brief introduction to alienation as a concept, an in-depth exploration of how it applies to the characters of Severance, and some observations on how that theme relates to the real world.

Alienation of labor is a term used in political commentary to refer to an experience of estrangement between workers and their work. You might think of it as like wearing a mask, building up walls, or being reduced to a cog in a machine. These experiences arise from the sacrifice of autonomy involved in selling labor to an intermediary (an employer), which, within a given societal system, is necessary for most people in order to purchase what we need to survive.

Alienation of labor is dramatized in Severance at multiple levels of analogy and realism. For severed workers, the outer self is alienated from the work self, and the work self is alienated from the work. These workers are insulated from understanding the nature of their work, they are forced to work, and they are also (supposed to be) estranged from themselves and each other, buying into corporate mythology at their own expense. Together these factors combine to facilitate greater horrors.

Notes:

• This analysis contains major spoilers for the first two seasons. Before reading further, I recommend watching the show for yourself.
• Content warnings for violence will appear later at the start of a specific section. More generally this analysis deals with themes of workplace abuse, with brief references to suicide. 

Crossposted to Pillowfort and my personal site. Note for off-site linking, I recommend using the version on my personal site.