Moving Beyond Alienation: The Role of Collaboration in Today’s Indonesia Labor Environment

Abstract

In an era characterized by fragmented work relationships due to utilitarian orientation, the experience of alienation is becoming increasingly prevalent, especially in how to achieve common goals in the workplace. The question is, how can this issue be addressed philosophically? This paper offers a philosophical reflection on collaboration as a form of collective commitment among individuals that can meaningfully address the condition of alienation in contemporary work environments. Drawing on Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition and the philosophical notion of intersubjectivity, a critical response to fragmented work relationships can emerge, thereby proposing that collaboration is not merely a managerial strategy but a collective commitment that can philosophically subdue fragmented work relationships. By conceptualizing collaboration as a collective commitment based on recognition, this approach reclaims work as a place for individuals to mutually recognize their respective roles in achieving common goals at work rather than simply “being” in the same workplace to gain as much individual benefit as possible. The paper then explores how collaboration can foster pro-social resonance and mitigate the fragmentation effects of relational alienation. Ultimately, this philosophical response serves as a critique and alternative to the current way of working that distances individuals from common goals in their work environment, leaving each other busy seeking individual gain rather than making it a place to make sense of the shared world they inhabit (the work environment) as a coexistent space.