the marxist perspective on the family Flashcards
what do Marxists argue about the family?
- family creates class inequality and capitalism (inheritance of property)
- family acts as unit of consumption and teaches passive acceptance of hierarchy
- wealthy pass down private property to children (class inequality)
what do Marxists suggest about the family?
- similar to functional fit theory
- family type changes with society - not due to needs of industrialisation, but needs of capitalism system
what does Zaretsky argue about the family?
- family and household is like a ’private sphere’
- no land or property belongs to anyone and it’s the idea of being trapped in a family
what does Engels argue about family?
- monogamous nuclear family only emerged with capitalism
- before capitalism: trad, tribal societies were classless and performed form of ’primitive communism’:
- no private property
- in those societies, property was collectively owned
-
tribal groups existed in a kind of ’promiscuous horde’:
- no restrictions on sexual relationships
what happened with the emergence of capitalism in 18th century? (inheritance of property)
- society and family changed
- capitalism based on system of private ownership
- bourgeois use own wealth to invest in businesses of their own to make profit, not for others
what did the bourgeois eventually start doing? (inheritance of property)
- look for ways to pass on their wealth to next generation
- this is where the monogamous nuclear family comes along
- best way of guaranteeing that you’re passing property to son/daughter, because in monogamous relationship you know who your children really are
what does passing on your wealth to children do? (inheritance of property)
- reproduces inequality
- children of rich grow into wealth, while poor remain poor
- nuclear family benefits bourgeoisie more than proletariat
what are criticisms of Engels?
- gender inequality comes before capitalism: tribes in Asia and Africa are patriarchal, women not allowed to inherit property, no political power, and doing most childcare and hard labour
- CA: wealthy capitalist economies eg UK and USA: fast improvements in gender equality over last 100 years. capitalism, increasing wealth and gender equality seem to correlate
what values does the modern nuclear family promote? (ideological functions)
- values that ensure reproduction and maintenance of capitalism
what is the family described as? (ideological functions)
-
ideological apparatus
- socialises people in a way that justifies inequality
- encourages people to accept capitalism as fair, natural and unchangeable
how does the family promote reproduction and maintenance of capitalism? (ideological functions)
- there’s a hierarchy in most families
- teaches children to accept there’ll always be a person in ’authority’ who must be obeyed, which mirrors hierarchy of boss-worker in paid employment in future
what does Zaretsky argue about ideological functions?
- family performs ideological function by offering apparent ’haven’ from harsh + exploitative world of capitalism
- workers can ’be themselves’ and have private life
- CA: Zaretsky argues this is largely an illusion - family can’t meet its members’ needs eg it’s based on domestic servitude of women
what do capitalists want to keep doing? (family as unit of consumption)
- keep workers’ wages down so they can make profit
- to do so they must sell the workers’ goods eg create demand for their products
how does the family create demand for goods? (family as unit of consumption)
1) must keep up with material goods/services done by neighbours and peers eg family holidays, cars
- known as ’keeping up with the Joneses’
- there’s significant amounts of advertising + TV programmes influencing parents this way
2) media targets children in ads who then persuade parents through pester power to buy more expensive items
- bad in UK where there’s few legal restrictions on ads aimed at children
- in Sweden ads aimed at children under 12 is illegal
criticisms of Marxists
- too deterministic: assumes people passively accept socialisation and a predetermined future, ignoring families who reject consumerism and raise independent thinkers
- ignores family diversity: nuclear family is no longer dominant, and family breakdown may even benefit Capitalism, as divorce and forming new families drive increased spending
- feminists: argue that Marxism downplays patriarchy, the true source of female oppression, and highlight that sex inequalities exist in all families, regardless of class
- ignores benefits of nuclear family: both parents support the children, and the New Right sees this as the most functional way to raise them, noting the nuclear family’s global presence as evidence of choice
