Marxism Flashcards
What type of theory is Marxism?
-Structural-conflict theory
-Society has a direct influence on individuals(There is a social structure that shapes individual behaviour through socialisation)
- social institutions work to create conflict within society
-Sees society as a conflict between 2 main social classes - the bourgeoisie (m/c and ruling class) and proletariat (w/c and subject class)
-Easier to control as the law and the state supports capitalism-so unlikely to recognise proletariat being exploited in the workplace - inequality
-Produces a false class consciousness - prevents people to see society and keeps the m/c in power.
-the conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat makes society unstable and believes that worker’s revolution will result in the overthrow of capitalism and turns into communism
What does the conflict bit mean?
Society is primarily conflict-ridden and unstable
How does society work from a Marxist viewpoint-Karl Max
-critiques of capitalism as an economic system
-scientific socialism where he doesn’t see change as gradual and smooth but sudden(understand society through scientific method)
-According to Marx, society is based on a TWO-TIER MODEL.
-This means that society is made up an ECONOMIC BASE-shapes the superstructure(means of production-machinery,raw materials,land,factories etc allow RC to exploit WC)-everything exists to support capitalism and that SUPERSTRUCTURE-maintains & legitimizes the base(education,family,religion,media)-reinforces all ideas and beliefs by ideology
What do Marxists believe is necessary in order for society to improve?
Revolution and the establishment of a communist society
Marx-the economic base has a direct impact on the superstructure. Institutions work to serve capitalism and the RC
eg-the education systems serves capitalism as it prepares workers to know their place(through the correspondence principle) and allocates individuals in to roles that help to serve that capitalist system(eg-through failure of the WC).This helps capitalism to continue prosper,whilst masking the true oppressive nature of the capitalist system
How does capitalism link with the two-tier model
-Helps us understand how society operate to create inequality amongst the WC
-Capitalism generates inequality - as Power of the ruling class means that they own- means of production in society and so has power over the proletariat & financial stability.
-Able to employ proletariat–work at their factories and get paid less then their products they make
-Creates inequality-WC payed unfair wages for their labour & RC are rewarded by gaining a large profit-this continues as WC are dependent on the wage and dont risk losing what lil income they receive-if u refuse such conditions-they are replaced as they are commodity for RC
-Lack of awareness(false consciousness) means that the ruling class can brainwash the proletariat anddoes not realise its exploitation -accepts crumbs as others dont have anything & u can still survive
EVALUATION-Althusser criticises Marx for his simplistic two-tier model
economic determinism
-economic factors such as capitalism and social change are the cause for everything
-humans have free will-can change system
How are the WC alienated?
-Alienates them from their produce(they will never afford the goods that they work so hard to produce
-Also alienates them from each other(they are in constant comp with each other for jobs)-by creating alienation amongst the WC-it reduces the risk of them coming together to realise the oppression they face & work together to revolt against he system
Revolution
-Marx argues RC wants this to happen-as it helps to ensure that hey continue to benefit from the capitalist system.
-Marx identifies that the WC are able to develop a class-consciousness & will one day form a revolution to restore society back to communist state.
-Polarisation-unequal pay & conditions of capitalism drive more individuals into the conditions of WC,creating a greater division between rich & poor-leads to individuals developing a class-consciousness & revolting to replace capitalism with communism.
Traditional society was based in primitive communism - no class, private property or exploitation-
-If the natural order of society is based on communism-most logical way of living
Historical materialism
-Humans are brings with needs such as foods, shelter therefore must work to meet them-they use means of production
-Unaided(no help) to develop tools, machines etc to assist in production.
-while working together to meet their needs-they cooperate together-enter social relations of production
-forces of production grow & develop so do social relations of production change-a division of labour develops, rising a division between 2 classes:
-A class of labourers
-A class that owns the means of production
Mode of production-Marx
The forces & relations of production combined to create the economic base.
Class society and exploitation
-Primitive communism=Society was free of social class division, as hunter-gatherers only gathered enough food to survive. There was no surplus production, and therefore there was no exploitation.
-no ownership,no classes,no exploitations-everyone works & everything is shared
However forces grew & diff class society was created
-Class society=one class owns the mean of production-enables them to exploit the labour of others for their benefit
A03:Action/interactionists argue that Marxists downplay the role of social actors(they ignore humans have free will and focus too heavily on a macro approach)This leads to the theory being too deterministic and instead we should analyze society from a micro approach.
Capitalism
an economic system based on market competition and the pursuit of profit.Means of production/capital owned by individual
