Marxist View

Question 1

What do Marxists see society as based on?

Answer 1

Unequal conflict between 2 social classes :
The capitalist class who own the means of production 
The working class, whose labour the capitalists exploit for profit

Question 2

What are the functions of the family according to Marxists?

Answer 2

Inheritance of property
Ideological functions
A unit of consumption

Question 3

What do Marxists say about the family?

Answer 3

 Marxist sociologists look at how the family helps maintain society’s structure.
 They DO NOT see the nuclear family as a necessary function.
 They see the nuclear family as a way of driving a capitalist society.
 This is a society driven by profit, money and conflict between social classes.

Question 4

Describe how the family performs ideological functions

Answer 4

• Primary socialisation creates class inequalities. The working class are socialised to accept their place in society as below the upper classes, the upper classes are socialised to believe they are above the working class.
• Zaretsky says the family is a “safe haven” from the harsh and exploitative world of capitalism where workers can be themselves and have a private life.

Question 5

Describe how the family is a unit of consumption

Answer 5

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 commodities.

Families buy products for their members e.g. cars, houses, food, electronics. Capitalism needs people to buy things so the rich can make a profit. Families are important as they buy things and support capitalism.

• The media target children, who use ‘pester power’ to persuade parents to spend more
• Children who lack the latest clothes are stigmatised by their peers

Question 6

Describe inheritance of property within the family

Answer 6

• Private property (owning a house) is important. Traditionally, men want property to pass on to their sons. This led to marriages so men knew the children being born were theirs, so the property would definitely get passed on to them. However, this also meant that the woman became the property of the husband who had her children. This reproduces the social class system.

Question 7

What does Engels say?

Answer 7

Monogamy became essential because of the inheritance of private property - men had to be certain of the paternity of their children in order to ensure that their legitimate heirs inherited from them. In his view, the 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 8

What do Marxists say about unpaid labour?

Answer 8

Families support capitalism by providing unpaid labour. Children are socialised into being the next generations of workers and emotional support from mothers is provided for workers (the dads) to help them deal with any unfair treatment at work.

Question 9

Give criticisms of the Marxist view

Answer 9

• Can be seen as old fashioned. The idea that men marry and have children to pass on property doesn’t really happen anymore.
• Many women now work themselves and have their own incomes, so they do not need to rely on a man’s salary anymore.
• The idea that families exist just to pass on the upper-class status ignores other reasons for families. People today marry for love rather than social reasons such as social class.
• Marxists ignore the benefits of nuclear family like the fact both parents support their children. Class isn’t as relevant today as it was in the past. Other factors hold importance now, such as ethnicity or gender.