marxist views on the family Flashcards
similarities between marxist and functionalist perspective on family
3 sim
structure? types of theories? function of family?
- they both only acknowledge the TNF as the a family. there must be a clear division of labour (SCR)
- both social structure theories- they have a deterministic view on the family- beleive that the structure of the family is controlled by external social forces (parsons). they believe family structure is controlled by capitalism
- they both look at how the family performs roles in relation to wider society
functionalist- to benefit wider society
marxists- to meet needs of capitalist society
differences between marxists and functionalists perspective on family
1.functionalist- consensus theory
marxists- conflict theory (like feminists. they believe that capitalists use the TNF to oppress and control the proleteriat)
2. whereas functionalist like Murdock see the TNF’ s SCR as natural, marxists disagree and believe that it was socially constructed by capitalists
3. functionalists- the TNF benefits society as a whole
marxists- it only benefits capitalists society (believe family—->superstructure)
what do marxists believe is the role of family?
to benefit capitalists and maintain class inequality
inheritance of private property theory- Engels (1972)
Engels believed that the TNF ensure the capitalists inheritance of private property
* engels studied early society (pre-modernity) and looked at the relationships
* they were polygamous and there was sexual freedom (refers to them as ‘promiscuous horde’)
* there was no such thing as family
* the means of production was community owned and everyone owned the land
* however capitalists monopolize the MOP and want the MOP passed onto their legitimate heir- biological son- because they want the wealth to stay within the capitalist class
* the problem was that the sexual freedom of women and lack of paternity tests meant that cap cant be certain who their legitimate heir is
* they then socially contructed the TNF which is based on monogamy, marriage and fidelity- this solved the capitalist problems as MOP goes from cap—>cap
AO2 of Engels
functionalist Parsons would disagree and believed that the family naturally evolved- it became the TNF to meet the needs of industrial society. engels believed it was socially constructed
how does the family benefit capitalism?
marxists believe that the family benefit capitalists by acting as a unit of consumption. How do they do this? the main motive of cap is money so they SC family to make money by creating different consumer markets (the concept of family was created as an additional consumer market
how do capitalists make money?
cap make money/profit out of the concept of family as they act as an additional consumer market. they also target products to family
what is cap society like? what does it cause? how do they do this?
- capitalists society is very materialistic
- it causes pressure to ‘keep up with the jones’
- capitalists do this by encouraging materialism and competitiveness which forced families to buy for things
what is “pester power”?
within the family cap target children, known as “pester power”- this is when children pester their parents to buy stuff
AO3 of unit of consumption
marxists have been criticised for their views that the family acts as a unit of consumption because it is deterministic since it assumes the family members instantly but products and SAT would argue that people have a free will/concious
how does family perform an ideological function (brainwashing)?
marxists believe that capitalists ideology are the beliefs we have and which are reinforced by family- ideological state apparatus (althusser)- cap control family and family keeps us in a false concious
how does the TNF perform and ISF?
a)the structure of the TNF legitimates inequalities. this is because the TNF is hierarchial (power inequality). for example in the TNF:
man-breadwinner, powerful however is the minority
woman and children- economically dependant on man for needs of subsistance, powerless however is the majority
-being raised like this, children are socialised in family to accept inequality as the family mirrors cap society
-performs ideological function- brainwashes youinto believing inequality
AO3 of ideological functions
it is too deterministic- assumes children except gender inequality and accept class inequality which is not true. conjugal roles have also changed in post-modernity. now couples have joint conjugal roles and this is based on the premise that everyone has SCR
how does the family act as an ideological haven?
b) Zaretsky refers to the family as an ideological haven;
-the proletariat experience alienation and exploitation in the work place as cap make them work long hours with low pay and the work is very unskilled making it boring
-this leads to stress which makes a rebellion likely, however the TNF prevents this as they compensate for the harsh reality of cap and makes you cope
-however it is important to note that Zaretsky thinks that cap is so exploitative that family cannot compensate
AO3 of ideological haven
- RF like Greer would criticise Zaretsky that the family is and IH as women experience darkside (rape, domestic violence) which is far from IH
- also implies that the nature of work is alienative however one could argue that the nature of work has changed- main form of work in post modernity is the service sector and workers have more rights- minimum wage act
