Theories: Marxism

Question 1

Who are the Bourgeoisie?

Answer 1

Capitalist class owns means of production.

Question 2

Who are the Proletariat?

Answer 2

Working class exploited by the capitalist class for profit.

Question 3

What is Marxism?

Answer 3

• A conflict theory.
• An ideology: set of beliefs that justify inequality and maintain capitalism.
• Bourgeoisie use ideology to maintain the ‘false consciousness’.

Question 4

How do Marxist sociologists see society?

Answer 4

• Marxists see society as capitalistic.
• Marxist sociologists see capitalist society based on unequal conflict between 2 classes: the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and the working class (proletariat).
• They see society’s institutions as helping to maintain class inequality and capitalism.
• Functions of the family benefit the capitalist society.

Question 5

What happens with inheritance of property?

Answer 5

• mode of production.
• Primitive communism - means of production owned communally.
• No family - ‘promiscuous hade’ ~ Engels.
• Society’s wealth increased.
• Private property because men secured control of the means of production.
• Monogamy is essential for inheritance of private property.
• ‘world historical defeat of the female sex’.
• No need for a patriarchal family.

Question 6

Women are the…?

Answer 6

Women are the ‘mere instrument for the production of children’.

Question 7

What are criticisms of Engels?

Answer 7

• It isn’t clear that the ‘promiscuous hade’ ever existed. (Murdock found that the nuclear family was universal)
• According to Murdock, the nuclear family existed before capitalism in many areas.
• Feminism - his theory can’t explain why gender equality exists in the family.

Question 8

How does the family act as an ‘ideological conditioning device’ (Marxist David Cooper 1912)?

Answer 8

The modern nuclear family functions to promote values and ways of thinking about capitalism, ensuring the reproduction and maintenance of capitalism. It does this in 3 ways:
1. Making us believe that hierarchy and inequality are normal.
2. Providing a ‘safe haven’ for workers.
3. Providing consumption, which keeps capitalism going.

Question 9

What were those 3 ways the nuclear family maintains capitalism?

Answer 9

1. Making us believe that hierarchy and inequality are normal.
2. Providing a ‘safe haven’ for workers.
3. Providing consumption, which keeps capitalism going.

Question 10

How is there a hierarchy in society?

Answer 10

There is hierarchy in families so children are taught to accept there will always be someone in authority who they must obey - ideal preparation for later work.

Question 11

What is a criticism of this?

Answer 11

Age hierarchy occurs in most societies, not just Capitalist societies.

Question 12

How does Zaretsky (1976) see the family?

Answer 12

As a prop to the capitalist system. He argued that work under Capitalism was harsh and exploitative, meaning workers had no control over their working conditions.

Question 13

How does this link to the family being a ‘safe haven’?

Answer 13

The family provided comfort for the stressed worker in the family, offering emotional support and having a supportive family and children gave work a purpose.

Question 14

What is a criticism of the family being a ‘safe haven’?

Answer 14

Marxists ignore the benefits of a nuclear family.

Question 15

How is the family a unit of consumption and how is high consumption maintained?

Answer 15

• High consumption is the norm.
• The capitalist class needs families to consume in order to maintain profit. This is maintained in 2 ways:
  1. ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ (doing something in order to show you have as much money as other people, rather than because you really want to do it).
  2. Pester Power (a child pestering their parents for something relentlessly until the parent accepts it).

Question 16

What is an evaluation of marxism?
(Why is it too deterministic, how does marxism ignore family diversity, feminism and how does it ignore benefits of a nuclear family)

Answer 16

• Too deterministic → it assumes people passively accept socialisation and family life, and that the future is predetermined.
• The marxist perspective ignores family diversity in capitalist society → the nuclear family is no longer the main type of family.
• Feminists argue that the Marxist focus on social class inequalities downplayed the role of patriarchy, which is the real source of female oppression.
• Marxism ignores the benefits of a nuclear family. For example, both parents support their children. The New Right states this is the most functional family type to raise children in.