marxism

Question 1

what is the marxist perspective on the family?

Answer 1

Marxism is a left-wing structuralist conflict theory.

Marxists take a largely negative view of the family and argue that the main function of the family is to maintain capitalism and reinforce social inequalities.

It is criticized by right-wing theorists who instead see the family as a positive institution.

Question 2

Engels

Answer 2

• ‘The housewife’s position is one of ‘glorified prostitution’
• Argues that marriage and the family developed when people began to own private property. Once people owned property (usually men) they wanted to ensure that the offspring they passed their property into when they died were definitely their own.
• With inheritance, there had to be restrictions on women’s freedom. A woman’s sexuality had to be controlled so that the family lines continued.

Question 3

Zaretsky

Answer 3

• Examines the family in modern capitalist society where work provides little fulfillment
• The exploitative nature of capitalism leads to people seeking refuge in the family
• He observed how housewives kept capitalism going, performing free household tasks in the home and socialising the future generation of workers (children)

Question 4

zarestky - unit of consumption

Answer 4

• argues that families buy consumer goods that need to be purchased for capitalism to survive
• families are under the impression they need to compete with other families and purchase the latest products, this is also referred to as “keeping up with the Joneses”

Question 5

zaretsky - housewives

Answer 5

observed how housewives kept capitalism going, this is done by…

• performing free household tasks in the home and
• socialising the future generator of workers (children) into bourgeoise values and norms such as obedience, respect for authority and hierarchy, so ensuring that the bourgeoisie’s dominance of culture was rarely challenged

Question 6

MacDonald

Answer 6

• discusses Disney culture and how it brainwashes families to believe that it is a rite of passage and that it is the happiest place on earth
• it makes families think that they must go there at least once otherwise they are missing out

Question 7

Althusser (family)

Answer 7

• the family is an ideological state apparatus
• it is one way of passing on the ideology and beliefs of the ruling class
• the family does this by preparing children to be the next generation of Proletariat workers and brainwashing them to accept capitalist beliefs
• sees the ruling class as almost tricking the working class

Question 8

cooper

Answer 8

• argues that the family is a mirror image of later life
• it is a miniature version of the hierarchy’s inequality in society and is the first situation where children learn to submit to the capitalist ideology which teaches those at the bottom that they must accept their position and be obedient to those above them
• the parents are the bosses and the children are the workers

Question 9

fran ansley

Answer 9

• women are the takers of shit
• domestic violence is the product of capitalism - male workers are exploited at work and they take out their frustration on their wives that would otherwise be directed at capitalism

Question 10

benston

Answer 10

• Benston argues that women are the slaves of the wage slaves - men are slaves to their capitalist bosses and women are their slaves
• They service their husbands and make sure that their emotional, physical and sexual needs are met so that they can continue to be good workers in the outside world.

Question 11

hothschild

Answer 11

alienation

Question 12

how would functionalists criticise the marxist view of family?

Answer 12

• murdock - family is not a unit of consumption, they are simply performing the economic function
• parsons - warm bath

Question 13

criticisms of the marxist view on the family

what does it ignore?

Answer 13

• only focuses on the nuclear family as the dominant type in society, ignoring other family types. Today, in Britain there is a diverse range of family types, with the nuclear family being just one of these. Therefore Marxism may fail to help us to understand the family in contemporary society.

Question 14

marxism and the family DESIRE paras

Answer 14

• D - unit of consumption E - zaretsky S - McDonald E - Murdock - economic function
• D - marriage was made for capitalism E - Engels S - Ansley E - Parsons gender roles
• D - women allow capitalism to keep going E - Benston S - Zaretsky E - Parsons warm bath
• D - family teaches us to submit to capitalist values E - Althusser S - Cooper E - Durkheim organic analogy