Theories for 40 markers Flashcards
How do Marxists believe society is stratified according to Marx (1867)?
- Society is stratified by social class therefore it illustrates its self as a conflict theory between the bourgeoise and the proletariat as the means of production (resources) are owned by a minority bourgeoise. The proletariat’s wages/labour power is exploited through surplus value as wages are kept low in order to increase profits maintaining the class divide
- Workers are not aware of class exploitation due to a false consciousness that the superstructure convinces them that class stratification is fair and natural
- Class inequality can only be overcome through revolution where the proletariat overthrow the bourgeoise and establish a classless society (stage 5 and 6 of Communism and Marxism)
Why will capitalism inevitably suffer?
- The poverty divide will become so large and impossible to ignore
- Increasing efficiency and profit would cause alienation of the workers as they would no longer receive satisfaction leaving them to question life
How can Marxism be evaluated?
- Neo-Marxists imply they are overly deterministic as it places too much emphasis on people as the product of infrastructure ergo neglecting agency and ignore other forms of inequality
- Failure to account for the growth of the middle class
- Marxists present an over socialised picture of workers being conformist by accepting the false consciousness as some may be aware of inequality but the benefits of capitalism compensate it
- Understands how economic structure and pursuit of profit can lead to class exploitation
- Understand conflict unlike functionalists
- Stage theory traces the evolution of class relations and capitalism enabling it success in some countries like Russia
- economic reductionism reduces all inequalities to the economy
- Racism exists beyond capitalism and pre-dates it so it cannot just be economically motivated and they all ignore how minority ethnic groups can be part of the bourgeoise
What is consensus for functionalists?
They see society as characterised by social order which is underpinned by an agreement of what norms and values are important
What is stratification for functionalists?
- Accept the stratification of capitalist societies is class inequalities
- Members of society who are functionally important to the economy and social order through wealth deserve greater economic reward therefore society is meritocratic
- The function of social institutions such as education is to allocate individuals occupational roles that is suitable to their ability via exams and qualification as not not are succeed to achieve
- It encourages all members of society to work to the best of their ability
Why is social position important for funtionalists?
-Its importance is dependent on the dependency of others and functional uniqueness (how many people could do the same job)
- Most members of society believe their social class position reflect their talent ability due to vale consensus
- This can be applied to gender as they believe men have better hobs because they have more human capital than women thus explaining gender inequalities
How can functionalism be evaluated?
- Unequal rewards can arise due to power and status regardless of consensus
- Those with social power can include those with inherited wealth and celebrities ergo may not be the most talented but only though family connections and advantages like private education that doesn’t make them functionally important to society
- many occupations like nursing lack rewards despite its functionality for society
- Neglects the dysfunctions of stratification such as the impacts of poverty on health, education and standard of living
- Individual responsibility
What are the limitations in relation to gender?
- Ignores the negative effects of traditional gender roles such as domestic violence, sexual harassment and depression
- Outdated as it largely emerged during the 50s, where a nuclear family was a social norm (struggles still existed however there are subject to change today)
- Ignores power imbalances and conflict within the family because as a macro-level approach, it neglects women’s experiences especially due to intersectionality
What are the limitations in relation to age?
Underestimates the dysfunctions of ag inequality such as youth rebelling plus social disengagement being enforced through old people being pushed out of the workplace leaving poverty and isolation
How can Davis and Moore be criticised?
The assume that pool of talent emerge is very small as capitalist societies restrict those to gain power from working class backgrounds
How does the new right criticise functionalism?
- Criticise their collectivist errors as they are primarily motivated by self interest and competition
- Advocate for little state reliance but instead market force to allocate resources and regulate social behaviour
How do Marxists criticise functionalists?
The way functionalists emphasise stability neglects the fundamental class conflict between the bourgeoise and the proletariat through exploitation as they blame it as natural
What does the new right argue?
- They believe in individual responsibility and that society is meritocratic for one’s successes and failures with the freedom to make choices therefore inequality is based on individual talent, effort and personal choices
- Advocate for free markets and limited government intervention in the economy as involvement in the state creates dependency and the underclass
- Promote traditional social values such as the importance of family for social order and cohesion as it is biologically determined
- Criticise increases in female employment as it has a detrimental effect on children and husbands as men should provide for their families whilst women be subjected to be child bearers (Schlafly 2003)
What is Murray (1984) underclass theory?
He argues that over - generous benefits encourage some people to develop a culture in which they don’t take responsibility for their own actions and have an expectation that they will be looked after the state. This can be applied to deviance as:
- Dependency on the state is a lifestyle choice that can be seen as deviant
- Single mothers under socialise their sons with no moral guidance increasing their likeliness to commit crime
- Fatherless teenage girls have children young to find a father figure creating a vicious cycle within the underclass
- Boys feel no need to be fathers
Lack of value consensus develop values such as laziness,
How can the new right be evaluated?
- Murray’s suggestion of the poor being lazy doesn’t reflect the actual condition as the LPU puts it down to low pay
- Neglects structural inequalities as they victim blame through aligning with traditional values which Marxists recognise
- Due to the emphasis on the importance on neo-liberal economics, it neglects how its emphasis and increasing costs has led to low wages and job insecurity for the proletariat
- Scapegoating poor people has neglected the real cause of inequality
- Lack of equality schemes by governments in inner city and educational sector to target poorer sections of society encouraging the cycle of poverty
- Neglects to understand the consequences of cutting state benefits especially for old people due to them being at risk of entering poverty
- Their faith in the free market has been challenged by economic crises and growing income inequality in many countries
How does Young (2003) criticise the new right?
They criticise their attempts to punish, demean and humiliate those at the bottom of society for example teenage mothers ergo their impacts are disproportionate to society because of scapegoating
How can the New Right can be criticised for their gender views?
- Neglect that women are disadvantaged from gaining human capital due to the restrictions of motherhood
- Ignores the negative effects of traditional gender roles such as domestic violence, sexual harassment and depression
- Neglects the importance of care work that women perform that are crucial for families and communities
How are the New Right criticised by Weberians?
- It neglects the power and status of individuals as it shows how power is distributed
- Individuals are influenced by a variety of factors like values, beliefs and social norms and that social action is driven by conflict and competition rather than just self - interest
- Neglect those in the upper classes use names and networking to maintain advantages and limit access to the lower class
What do feminists believe?
- Four waves of feminism
- Patriarchy characterises society as it gives men privileges and subordinates women often through gendered division of labour
- Focuses how intersectionalism can affect female experience on an individual level such as through class focused by Marxists feminists
- Liberal feminists focus on obtaining equal rights through highlighting inequalities in secondary socialisation that asserts the ideology of patriarchy
- Radical feminism suggests that gender inequality is the most important stratification as men are unable to reform
- The family is the main source of patriarchal power because of gender roles in socialisation that it is socially acceptable
- Patriarchal ideology is used to control women for the benefit of men and when the ideology fails, the threat of violence increases limiting their capacity for freedom because they feel controlled by their biological factors
How can feminism be evaluated?
- Recognise power dynamic through patriarchy
- Unpaid domestic labour can be called into question as it doesn’t need explicit benefits to capitalism
- Liberal feminism implies that women passively accept their gender identities
-Marxist feminists have failed to explain why jobs are gendered because if women are cheaper to employ, it would be more profitable for capitalist workplaces to employ them - Radical feminists are pessimistic about male support and their aims are unrealistic
- Somewhat outdates as the original goals have been achieved encouraging the development of newer feminist views post fourth wave of feminist
- Intersectionalism could undermined the impacts of separate agencies to oppressive people such as ethnicity and gender - reductionism to gender inequalities
- Doesn’t explain how women contribute to inequalities
How is feminism viewed in the eyes of Weberians?
- Feminism brings attention to subjective meaning and experiences that women attach to their social roles aligning with verstehen
- They neglect the complexities of social stratification in terms of class, status and party plus gender
- Classism impacts the effects of patriarchy through their power, wealth and party
How is feminism viewed in the eyes of Marxists?
- They both share a concern for structural inequalities and the need for collective action for change
- They sometimes criticise the emphasis on patriarchy rathe than it being driven by capitalism
How is feminism viewed in the eyes of New Right?
They would be sceptical towards policies that address gender inequalities such as equal pay and subsidised childcare as they emphasise little state intervention however positively, feminists contribute to social change through the four waves
What is Weberian theory?
- Initially, a critic of Marx as saw many different types of inequality based on status and power and for ignoring other types of status inequality and differences based on gender, ethnicity that had little to do with wealth
- Defines class a as a group of people who share a similar market situation due to their skills, qualifications and income emphasising the status difference within the social class strata as they can can have different value in society
- Status refers to the social prestige of a particular group or social position expressed through economic reward or political deference
- Status derives from social class based on tradition, legal, authority or a sense of talent but also through consumption which can also affect life chance
- Party mobilises individuals through the organised pursuit of power for collective goals through collective action such as channelling resources
- Weber recognised that political power can create inequality as those with greater access to institutions can influence policies and their outcomes to benefit them
How does this expand to intersectionalism?
- Women have a lower market position than men due to the gender pay gap and segregation therefore due to patriarchy, their status is affected
- It also impacts ethnic minorities due to racist ideologies encouraged through social closure by monopolising privileges and using it to exclude others, in the hands of ethnic majority groups
- All three are interconnected as an individual’s position can influence how others perceive them but status and part can work independently from class as the emergency service workers hold status despite low pay
- Due to differenced i class, Weber believes, there can never be a revolution as through the concept of verstehen, he understands there isn’t a single cause to unite the proletariat as they are not equal
How can Weber be evaluated?
- He recognises that it isn’t always capitalism that contributes to inequality especially due to gender, age and ethnicity as it recognises a complex model of stratification
- Neo-Marxists criticise the notion of status differences within social classes as deliberately created y the bourgeoise to divide and rule workers so they never gain full class consciousness to become revolutionary
- Neglects in the eyes of capitalist, the relationship between workers and capitalists because they monopolise wealth and income
- Feminists would challenges the view that gender isn’t just an aspect of status as it is an inequality in its own right
- Marxists believe they fail to recognise that the exploitative nature of capitalism is the basic problem that catalyses inequalities and doesn’t recognise relative importance
- Neglect the importance of exploitation in class relations as they over emphasise status and party
- Weber recognises the impact of agency in social class positions however the concept of status and party limits it to political connections
