Marxist theory of the family

Question 1

According to Marx, how does the family act as a unit of consumption?

Answer 1

• families keep up with goods and services acquired by friends/neighbours
• the media and companies target adverts to persuade kids to pester parents= ‘pester power’
• ‘keeping up with the Jonses’

Question 2

How is the family an ideological apparatus?

Answer 2

• it socialises people to think of a way that justifies inequality- encourages people to accept that the cap system is fair, nature, unchangeable
• there is a hierarchy in most families- teaches children authority
• Zaretsky- family offers a safe haven from harsh world of cap BUT he argues this is an illusion- fam doesn’t meet needs e.g. based on domestic servitude of women

Question 3

What does Engels argue about the emergence of the Nuclear family +inheritance of property?

Answer 3

• The monogamous nuclear family emerged with cap (society and family changed d2 industrialisation)
  THUS the Bourgeoise passed down wealth + property
• rich stay rich poor stay pour, nuclear family benefits the Bourgeoise more than proletariat

Question 4

How would functionalists/NR criticise Marx’s view of the family?

Answer 4

• ignores benefits of the family, NR- most functional environment to socialise children, Parsons ‘Functional Fit’

Question 5

How would feminists criticise Marx’s view of the family?

Answer 5

• focuses on inequality in role of patriarchy, underestimating the importance of gender

Question 6

How would post modernists criticise Marx’s view of the family?

Answer 6

assumes the nuclear family is the dominant form in society- not applicable to today’s complex society where family types are diverse