Marxist Theory on the Family.

Question 1

Marxists Views on Society

Answer 1

- see capitalist society as based on an unequal conflict between two social classes: 
the capitalist class who own the means of production and the working class in which they are exploited of labour for profit 
- see society's institutions such as the education system, media, religion, state and family as helping to maintain class inequality and capitalism.

Question 2

Marxists on Family

Answer 2

• functions of the family are performed purely for the benefit of the capitalist system.
• this view contrasts sharply with the functionalist view that the family benefits both society as a whole and all the individual members of the family

Question 3

What functions does the family perform for capitalism?

1. Inheritance of Property

Answer 3

- the key factor determining the shape of social institutions is the MODE OF PRODUCTION.
In modern society it is the capitalist class that owns and controls these means of production. As the mode of production evolves so does the family
- Marx called the earliest classless society 'primitive communism.' - In this society there was no private property. Instead all members of society owned the means of production communally.
- At this stage of social development there was no family as such. Instead there existed what Engels called the 'promiscuous hoarde' in which there were no restrictions of sexual relationships.

Question 4

What is the mode of production?

Answer 4

that is who owns and controls society’s productive forces.

Question 5

What functions does the family perform for capitalism?

1. Inheritance of Property - Private Property

Answer 5

Private Property

• as the forces of production developed, society’s wealth began to increase.
• the development of private property also came about, as a class of men emerged who were able to secure control of the means of production. This change then brought about the patriarchal monogamous nuclear family.

Question 6

What functions does the family perform for capitalism?

1. Inheritance of Property - Private Property ENGELS

Answer 6

• monogamy became essential because of the inheritance of property - men had to be certain of the paternity of their children in order to ensure that their legitimate heirs inherited from them
• this rise of the monogamous nuclear family represented a ‘world historical defeat of the female sex’ - this was because it brought the woman’s sexuality under male control and turned her into a mere instrument for the production of children

Question 7

What functions does the family perform for capitalism?

1. Inheritance of Property - Private Property MARXISTS

Answer 7

• argue that only with the overthrow of capitalism and argue private ownership of the means of production will women achieve liberation from patriarchal control.
• A classless society will be established in which the means of production are owned collectively
• there will no longer be a need for the patriarchal family since there will be no need to have a means of transmitting private property down the generations

Question 8

What functions does the family perform for capitalism?

2. Ideological Functions

Answer 8

• Marxists argue that the family also performs key ideological functions for capitalism.
  One way in which this is done is by socialising children into the idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable.
• Parental power over children accustoms them to the idea that there always has to be someone in charge, and this prepares them for a working life in which they accept workers from their capitalist employers.

Question 9

What functions does the family perform for capitalism?

2. Ideological Functions - ZARETSKY

Answer 9

• the family also performs an ideological function by offering an apparent ‘haven’ from the harsh and exploitative world of capitalism outside, in which workers can ‘be themselves’ and have a private life.
• however he argues that this is largely an illusion - the family cannot meet its members needs.

Question 10

What functions does the family perform for capitalism?

3. A Unit of Consumption

Answer 10

• capitalism exploits the labour of the workers, making a profit by selling the products of their labour for more than it pays them to produce these.
• The family therefore plays a major role in generating profits for capitalists, since it is an important market for the sale of consumer goods:
  1. Advertisers urge families to keep up by consuming the latest products
  2. The media target children who use pester power to persuade parents to spend more
  3. Children who lack the latest clothes or must have gadgets are mocked and stigmatised
• Thus Marxists see the family as performing several functions that maintain capitalist society: the inheritance of private property, socialisation into acceptance of inequality and a source of profits.
• Does not benefit members of the family

Question 11

Criticisms of Marxists

Answer 11

• tend to assume that the nuclear family is dominant in capitalist society. Ignores the wide variety of family structures found in society today
• Feminists argue that the emphasis on class and capitalism underestimates the importance of gender inequalities within the family. In this view these are more fundamental than class inequality.
  argue that the family serves the needs of men not capitalism
• Functionalists argue that it ignores the very real benefits that the family provides for its members