Alienation is the condition of being estranged or disassociated from the surrounding society. It involves a feeling of separation from one's milieu, work, the products of work, or self. The sense that our own abilities, as human beings, are taken over by other entities is also a key aspect. Sociologists like Marx described alienation in capitalist labor, where workers feel disconnected from their labor and its products. Durkheim focused on anomie, a state of normlessness leading to social alienation. Common variations of alienation include powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, cultural estrangement, social isolation, and self-estrangement. Alienation is a recurring theme in sociological analysis of modern life and is often depicted in literature and popular culture as psychological isolation.