This is an exploration of how non-rhizomatic societies, characterized by hierarchical and rigid structures, systematically reinforce social alienation. Drawing from Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) concept of the rhizome, and integrating Frankfurt School critiques—particularly those of Horkheimer and Marcuse—this research argues that modern industrial societies employ mechanisms such as the culture industry and bureaucratic rationality to entrench alienation. These structures suppress critical thought, individual autonomy, and authentic social relations through standardized media, consumer culture, and technocratic governance.

Arborescent models reinforce these dynamics by imposing top-down authority and linear social organization, reducing individuals to passive subjects within mass systems. As Horkheimer and Adorno critique, the media industry pacifies dissent and commodifies experience, aligning with Marcuse’s observations on one-dimensionality and the integration of opposition into the dominant order.

In contrast, rhizomatic societies—structured by decentralized, non-linear, and interconnected networks—offer a radically different mode of social organization. These structures promote openness, horizontal relationships, and the cultivation of difference, thus enabling greater individual agency and critical engagement. By resisting centralization and embracing multiplicity, rhizomatic models undermine the homogenizing tendencies of the culture industry and support conditions for genuine solidarity and emancipation.

Though often positioned in distinct philosophical traditions, the synthesis of Deleuzian rhizomatics and Frankfurt School critical theory is both feasible and productive. Recent interdisciplinary literature (e.g., Dufourmantelle, 2016; Buchanan, 2008) demonstrates how these frameworks converge in their opposition to reified structures, instrumental reason, and mass passivity. Both schools share a normative commitment to liberation through critique and transformation. Combining their insights provides a more robust critique of alienation and a more nuanced vision for emancipatory social structures.