Marxism Flashcards
What do Marxists argue about family?
It helps maintain class inequality and capitalism.
What does ideological state apparatus mean?
Institutions like family teach dominant ideas
What is repressive state apparatus?
Uses force to enforce capitalist rules
What does Engels argue nuclear family is for?
To ensure property could be inherited through legitimate heirs, supporting the ownership of private property.
So money can stay in the family
How does Engels describe women in monogamous marriage?
As “glorified prostitutes” who produce heirs in exchange for financial security.
what does Engles argue life was like before capitalism?
No formal families - promiscuous hordes
No private property
Communal ownership of production
Primitive communism
No private property
What does Zaretsky argue?
Family provided cushion from effects of alienating work
Families separate and fragment individuals from the rest of community, dampening revolutionary potential.
How’d does family act as an ideological function?
Teaching children to accept hierarchy and inequality as natural, preparing them to obey authority
How does the family reinforce gender roles, according to Marxists?
It teaches heterosexuality and traditional gender roles, conditioning children to accept patriarchy and capitalism.
How does the family serve capitalism through consumption?
Families are encouraged to buy goods, fueling the economy
Media targets children using “pester power”
Children are stigmatised if they lack branded or new products
What is “pester power”?
A marketing strategy where children pressure parents into buying products.
