Marxist Theories On The Family

Question 1

Is Marxist a conflict or consensus theory?

Answer 1

Conflict theory

Question 2

Why is Marxist a conflict theory ?

Answer 2

-views all institutions as helping to maintain class inequality and capitalism

Question 3

Which institutions does Marxist refer to helping maintain class inequality and capitalism ?

Answer 3

Education system
The media
Religion
The state

Question 4

What do Marxist believe the function of the family is?

Answer 4

functions of family
-performed solely for the benefit of the capitalist system

Question 5

What does Marxist view contrast with?

Answer 5

contrasts sharply w/
-functionalist view
that family benefits both society as a whole and the individual members of the family

Question 6

Two marxist sociologists are:

Answer 6

Engels
Zaretsky
Althusser and Poulantzas: the ideological role of the family

Question 7

What does Engels argue about?

Answer 7

The origin of family

Question 8

What does Zaretsky argue about?

Answer 8

How the family benefits capitalism

Question 9

Engels

Answer 9

-argued that the need for the family arose when societies started to value private property

Question 10

How did private properties lead to a rise in monogamy?

Answer 10

w/ rise of private property an
-organised system of inheritance became necessary
-fathers needed to know who their offspring were in order to pass their property down the line
-

Question 11

Monogamy originated due to and led to?

Answer 11

-need to know offspring to pass down property
-led to marriages between man and women and children born

Question 12

How is Engel’s theory marxist?

Answer 12

Family serves the interest of the economy
-in this case creation of OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY
-while subjecting women to unequal power relations in the home

Question 13

Evaluation of Marxist Engel’s theory

Answer 13

suffers from temporal validity
-modern rs suggests that Engels’ interpretation of development of families are HISTORICALLY inaccurate

Question 14

Evidence for Engel theory bein inaccurate

Answer 14

monogamous marriage and nuclear family
-often found in hunter-gatherer group
-since humans have spent a vast majority of their existence as hunter-gatherers

-families having emerged as a response to private property is unlikely

Question 15

Evaluation
Functionalist views on (marxist) Engel’s views

Answer 15

Parsons would reject this view of development of family

-rather than family being a vehicle to pass down inherited wealth, the family plays an important role in socialising the young and stabilising adult personalities

-division of labour in families reflects the natural expressive role of mother and more instrumental providing ole of father

Question 16

Zaretsky

Answer 16

suggest that the family serves capitalism by offering emotional security form the oppressive world of work, thus allowing such oppression to continue

HOWEVER
-it really only provides emotional warmth to encourage its members to continue to live another day under the harsh realities of capitalism

Question 17

Evaluation for Zaretsky
Liberal feminist

Answer 17

Lib-feminist:
Jennifer Somerville

-argues that Zaretsky exaggerates the importance of the family as a refuge from life in capitalist society

-Zaretsky underestimates the extent of cruelty, violence and incest w/ in families

-Zaretsky ignores the fact that mots w.c women had to take paid work in order for the family yo survive, relatively few stayed at home as housewives.

Question 18

What does Althusser and Poulantzas argue about?

Answer 18

The ideological role of the family

Question 19

Althusser and Poulantzas:

Answer 19

family can be seen serving functions of an ideological state apparatus by socialising both

PRO-CAPITALIST IDEOLOGY and its own familiar ideology
in order to maintain such family patterns over time

Question 20

Althusser and Poulantzas evidence

Answer 20

The family socialises its members into accepting gender roles
-into accepting that it is ‘natural for men and women to get married
-and engage in separate roles and jobs in the home:

AN ATTITUDE THAT IS PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

Question 21

Evaluation
Feminists view on Althusser and Poulantzas

Answer 21

Feminists argue that A & P ignore the fact that:
-such a family ideology supports patriarchy since it suggests that men and women should have diff. roles in family and society

-roles that lead to subordination of women to men

Question 22

Evaluation
Functionalists view on Althusser and Poulantzas

Answer 22

reject vie that the family socialises childrenin to capitalism ideology

• THE FAMILY ACTUALLY ENABLES CHILDREN TO INTERNALISE THE CULTURE OF SOCIETY TO ENABLE THEM TO BECOME EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING ADULTS

Question 23

Overall evaluation

Answer 23

-marxist views of the family follow logically Marxist theory

If, for example, family provides emotional support for workers, then this helps them to accept the injustices of the capitalist system

-This makes sense if capitalism is seen as essentially injust

MANY sociologists reject this view of capitalism and Marxist views on family too

Question 24

Overall evaluation

Feminists

Answer 24

argue that Marxist emphasis on social class and capitalism underestimates importance of gender inequalities within the family.,

For feminis the family primarily serves

Question 25

For feminist the family primarily

Answer 25

serves the interest of men rather than capitalism

Question 26

Overall evaluation

Functionalists

Answer 26

argue that Marxist ignore the very real benefits that the family provides for its members, such as intimacy and mutual support

Question 27

Overall evaluation

Interpretivists

Answer 27

Marxists tend to neglect the meanings families have for individuals and how family members interpret family r/s

Question 28

Overall evaluation

Interpretivists
example

Answer 28

Marxists ignore accounts of family life in which some females suggest motherhood is a fulfilling and rewarding process

Question 29

Marxists believes that there are what?

Answer 29

2 main classes that exist w/ different function:

R/C- Bourgeoisies
W/C- Proletariat

Question 30

Bourgeoisies own what?

Answer 30

‘Means of production’

(companies, land, property

Question 31

Proletariat do what?

Answer 31

work for bourgeoisies

Question 32

What does Marxists say the w/c experience?

Answer 32

Exploitation and are oppressed through the rpocess so that profit can be made for the r/c

TO MAINTAIN A CAPITALIST SOCIETY

Question 33

Althusser and Zaresky refers to family as

Answer 33

a unit of consumption

Question 34

dominant ideology

Answer 34

Althusser

r/c uses the family to reinforce a set of dominant ideas through socialisation to help to control the w/c

Question 35

Marxists believe that the traditional family makes…

and how does this occur

Answer 35

workers slaves to their bosses

as they are taught thru socialisation processes as family prepares future of worker to accept authority -THEREFORE KEEPING W/C PASSIVE

Question 36

How is family a unit of consumption?

Answer 36

families buy consumer good that need to be purchased to ensure the survival of the capitalist society

Question 37

Marxists feminist ?

Answer 37

Ansley

Question 38

What did Ansley refer to the family as ?

Answer 38

a safety valve

Question 39

Why did Ansley refer to the family as a safety valve?

Answer 39

it allows women to take pressure out on their wives which ensure they do not take their anger out on the ruling classes at work which prevents revolution