Marxist views of family Flashcards
Evolution of the family- Engels
-Suggested the family unit and monogamy evolved in response to the private ownership of property
-The need for legitimate heirs to pass on property led to the control of sexual behaviours
-Patrilineal inheritance meant that in order to be sure of a child’s father, people formed monogamous relationships to protect claims on their property
Evaluations of Engels
-Feminist critics suggested Engels sees the role of women and children as being influenced solely by economics
-Little historical evidence of the ‘promiscuous horde’ Engels describes as pre-dating inheritance and monogamy
The ideological state apparatus- Althusser
-Controls the behaviours of the W/C through social institutions such as family
-E.g, socialising children into acceptable behaviours
-Policed through other agencies: education, welfare, social services- children ‘brought up properly’
Evaluations of Althusser
-Theoretical basis to Althusser’s assumptions- based on no research evidence
Hochschild
-View of family life becoming commodified
-Alienation occurs not only in work, but at home with separation of the emotional burden of caring for children and others in family
-Suggests that this led to emotional struggles and impacted on self-esteem and self-worth of individuals
Evaluations of Hochschild
-Emotional work is largely conducted by family members and changes in society have meant some focus more on emotional relationships in society than work
-Beck= Men are more likely to define themselves as a father in the 21st century than by their occupation due to precarity of employment
Zaretsky
-Family changed from being a unit of production to a unit of consumption
-Family provides a ‘safe haven’ from alienating effects of capitalism
-Family props up the capitalist system
Family as a unit of production- Zaretsky
-Pre-industrial era= family was a unit of production
-Urbanisation meant that families would often have to consume goods, rather than produce them
-Workers would labour in exchange for wages that would allow them to buy the goods and services they required
Family as a unit of consumption- Zaretsky
-Families are rarely involved in production as they’re more likely to be consumers of food, clothing, technological products, home furnishings etc
-Reinforces the need for labour in order to purchase new goods and services
-Links to changes in childhood= children are no longer an economic asset but an economic liability
Family as a safe haven- Zaretsky
-Work in the modern era= labour intensive and unfulfilling for workers
-Workers suffer alienation from not seeing results of their labour- e.g, in manufacturing
-Home provides a ‘cushioning blow’ from the effects of capitalism- leaves worker refreshed and replenished for another day’s labour
-Family life= an escape for workers
-Family alone is not enough to satisfy the needs of workers
