Abstract:

With Marx’s“Fragment on Machines”as the theoretical point of departure, the underlying logic governing the relations between machinery, labor, and capital within the capitalist mode of production is revealed. While machinery propelled a colossal leap in productive forces, under the dominion of capital, it evolved into the materialized form of an exploitation mechanism. It supplanted workers’skills and rhythms, reducing the laboring subject to a mere appendage, thereby precipitating a comprehensive alienation of the labor process, the product of labor, and the human species-being (Gattungswesen). In the era of digital capitalism, the modality of capital control has shifted from material machine systems to virtual architectures centered on data, algorithms, and computing power. Data has emerged as the new means of production, while algorithms have replaced mechanical rhythms as the novel mechanism of labor discipline. By monopolizing platforms and data flows, capital achieves a more covert and flexible form of exploitation. The boundary between labor and non-labor is dissolved; human attention, affect, and behavior are continuously captured and transmuted into sources of value. Consequently, alienation extends from the material realm to the cognitive and spiritual dimensions, manifesting as algorithm-driven behavioral manipulation and the colonization of consciousness. The transition from the“Fragment on Machines”to the“Fragment on  data”demonstrates the historical continuity of capital’s exploitation logic, evolving from the explicit to the implicit. Confronting the pervasive penetration of digital capital, it is imperative to be guided by the Marxist spirit of technological critique. We must re-examine the power structures and subjective conditions within data society, seeking intellectual pathways to transcend algorithmic domination and data alienation, ultimately striving for the reunification of technological progress with human emancipation.

Key words: Marx’s view of machines, digital capital, data alienation, algorithmic governance;subjectivity