Alienation: trying to bridge the chasm.

Alienation no doubt ranks as one of the most frequently used terms in sociology. It probably also stands as the most frequently misused, abused, and misconstrued term in sociology. The various denotative and connotative meanings that have been attached to the word are legion. Above all, there is one fundamental chasm which divides this terminological wasteland: the gulf between the 'alienations' of the philosopher-theoreticians and the 'alienations' of the empiricists. The purpose of this paper is to bridge that chasm, or, at least, provide material for a later construction.
It is essential to specify the present realm of discourse. My goal is to fashion and defend a broad interpretation of alienation which is both philosophically significant and sociologically useful; one which is founded on an historically central meaning of the concept and which simultaneously reaches to contemporary empirical research conducted in its name.[1]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]