MARXISM Flashcards
1)To understand Marxists perspective 2)To understand the ways the family serves the needs of capitalism 3)To understand criticism of Marxist perspective
What type of theory is Marxism?And give the definition,
Conflict Theory-
Society is based on the conflict of interests between social classes of unequal power and wealth.
Marxists sociologists see capitalists society as based on an unequal conflicts between two social classes:
1)the capitalist class, who own the means o production
2)the working class, whose labour the capitalists exploit for profit.
How are Marxists structuralists?
They believe society is a structure or system that shapes human behaviour and ideas. All society’s institutions, such as the education systems, the media,religion and the state, along with the family, as helping to maintain class inequality and capitalism.
Who are the 2 Marxist key writers who wrote the Marxists theories of the family?
1) Karl Marx
2) Friedrich Engels
Marxists have identified 3 functions that they see the family as fulfilling for capitalism. What are they?
1) Inheritance:The family exists to pass in wealth from father
2) Ideology
3) The family is a unit of consumption
Marx called the earliest, classless society ‘primitive communism’. What does this mean? (function 1)
In this society, there was no private property. Instead all members of society owned the means of production communally.
What did Engels define promiscuous horde as? (function 1)
Where there was no restrictions on sexual relationships
As society developed what 2 things began to emerge? (function 1)
1) Wealth
2) The concept of private ownership
Patriarchal monogamous marriage and nuclear family emerged due to the emergence of what? (function 1)
of the richer classes
Who does the family benefit/disadvantage?And how does it do this? According to Engels. (function 1)
Due to the emergence of Patriarchal monogamous marriage and nuclear family, this represented a world historical defeat of the female sex. It brought female sexuality under male control and turned them into a mere instrument of the production of children.
What does ideology mean in Marxists terms? (function 2)
The set of ideas or beliefs that justify inequality in society and maintain the capitalists system by persuading people to accept it as fair, natural and unchangeable.
What does the family socialise children into thinking? (function 2)
The idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable . Parental (Especially paternal power over children accustoms them to the idea that there always has to be someone in charge (usually a man) and this prepares them for a working life in which they will accept orders from their capitalists employers.
According to Eli Zaretsky, the family also performs an ideological function which is ? And how does he criticise this view? (function 2)
By offering an apparent ‘haven’ from the harsh and exploitative world of capitalism outside, in in which workers can ‘be themselves’ and have a private life.
However, Zaretsky argues that this is largely an illusion- the family cannot meet it’s members’ needs. (e.g. it is based on the domestic servitude of women)
How is the family a unit of consumption? And give examples. (function 3)
The family exists to buy up all of the products created by the capitalist system.
(e.g. the media targets children, who use ‘pester power’ to have persuade parents to spend more/ and children who lack the latest gadgets are mocked and stigmatised by their peers.)
Give 3 criticisms of the Marxists perspective of the family
1) Marxists tend to assume that the nuclear family is dominant in capitalists society. This ignores the wide variety of family structures found in society today.
2) Many people see Marxism as too negative and very much like a conspiracy theory.
3) Functionalists argue that Marxists ignore the very real benefits that the family provides for its members.
How do Feminists criticise Marxists viewpoint on family?
Feminsts argue that their focus on inequalities of wealth means they ignore inequalities of gender.
