Marxism view on society

Question 1

write a brief introduction to why Marxism is useful in explaining society

Answer 1

Marxism -
- structural conflict theory
- historical materialism
- capitalist society : r/c exploit w/c through a means of production

Question 2

what is the 1st argument POINT

Answer 2

surplus value and historical materialism
- class inequalities

Question 3

what is the 1st argument EVIDENCE

Answer 3

Marx
1. relation of production : class division - w/c and r/c
2. means of production : labour and capital, extract surplus value by exploitation
3. modes of production : feudalism,capitalism,socialism

Question 4

what is the 1st argument ANALYSIS

Answer 4

historical materialism - 5 key stages in history with each having a different relation and means of production:
1. primitive communism 2. slavery 3. feudalism 4. capitalism 5. socialism
- e.g primitive communism- no classes (relation), hunter-gatherer (means)
- e.g feudalism - peasant-lord-king (relation), surplus value from ownership of land (means)

Question 5

what is the 1st argument EVALUATION

Answer 5

Habermas
- societies are not economic based rather people have individual power to shape and reflect on their own experiences

Question 6

what is the 2nd argument POINT

Answer 6

Neo marxism
- sociological theories which use ideas of traditional Marxists like Marx and Engels but amend it to incorporate elements from other traditions
- Goulder- splits Neo-marxism into
1. Humanistic/Critical marxism = focuses on interpretivism
2. Scientific/structural marxism- focuses on positivism

Question 7

what is the 2nd argument EVIDENCE

Answer 7

Gramsci
- R/C maintain their power through hegemony (strategy)
1. Coercion- force the w/c to accept r/c control through the police, army or prison
2. Consent- persuade the w/c that r/c dominance is legitimate

Question 8

what is the 2nd argument ANALYSIS

Answer 8

Althusser
- state apparatuses
1. RSA- use coercion e.g police to force w/c
2. ISA- use consent through ideology, e.g family and education to create a false consciousness

Question 9

what is the 2nd argument EVALUATION

Answer 9

E.P Thompson
- w/c nowadays can reject r/c ideas and can fight back repressive institutions and societies

Question 10

what is the POSTMODERNIST critique POINT

Answer 10

postmodernists
- functionalism is a metanarrative
- post-modern societies are globalised societies linked together by technology
- emerged since 1970s

Question 11

what is the POSTMODERNIST critique EVIDENCE

Answer 11

Lyotard
- rejects metannaratives
-globalised societies creates an interconnectedness of societies worldwide with technology esp computers

Question 12

what is the POSTMODERNIST critique ANALYSIS

Answer 12

Giddens and Beck
- individualisation thesis
- traditional social structures have been lost and people have greater individual freedom
- people are not required to follow their traditional roles
- do it yourself biography

Question 13

what is the POSTMODERNIST critique EVALUATION

Answer 13

• globalisation is a form of capitalism
• for businesses to grow they need to be expanded worldwide
• achieved through transportation

Question 14

what is the BLACK FEMINIST critique POINT

Answer 14

Intersectionality- interweaving of systems of social stratification to produce patterns of inequalities

Question 15

what is the BLACK FEMINIST critique EVIDENCE

Answer 15

Fanon
- peasants in colonised countries are the revolutionary class because the w/c in urban countries are more privileged

Question 16

what is the BLACK FEMINIST critique ANALYSIS

Answer 16

Robinson
- racial capitalism = race and capitalism are interlinked
- Williams thesis - products like sugar and cotton underpinned capitalism because it relied on violent labour
- capitalism created ‘blackness’ and ‘whitness’ by getting rid of multi ethnic lower class solidarity through false consciousness

Question 17

what is the BLACK FEMINIST critique EVALUATION

Answer 17

• Marxists argue that there is a divide between the dominant r/c who exploit the subordinate w/c through means of production
• Black feminists argue that there is a further divide between white and black people in the w/c