Zaretsky - Marxist ideas of the family - Family (Marxist)

Question 1

What is Zaretsky’s argue about the family?

Answer 1

• Before the 19th century the family was a unit of production. For example, during the textile industry, all family members were involved in the production of clothes within the home.
• The rise of industrial capitalism and factory-based production led to a split between family life and work .So the family and the economy are now seen as two separate spheres: the private life and the public sphere.
• With the separation of home and work, women became responsible for personal relationships and family members’ emotional well-being.
• The nuclear family has an economic function that serves the interest of capitalism. Women undertake unpaid labour within the home (such as child-rearing and cleaning) and maintain daily life. The system of wage relies on this unpaid domestic labour. Yet domestic labour is devalued because it is seen as separate from the world of work.
• Through the family, each social class reproduces over time. The bourgeois family transmits its private property from one generation to the next (although through inheritance). The proletarian family reproduces the labour force by producing generations of workers.
• The family is a vital unit of consumption for capitalism. Families buy and consume the products of capitalism and enable the bourgeoisie to make profits.
• Zaretsky believes that only socialism can end the artificial separation of family life ad public life, and make personal fulfilment possible.

Question 2

What are some criticisms of Zaretsky?

Answer 2

• Marxists ignore the fact that many people are satisfied with family life and marriage.
• Feminists argue that Marxists work with the traditional model of the nuclear family - that of the male breadwinner and female housewife. Marxists ignore family diversity.
• Some feminists see female oppression as linked to patriarchy rather than capitalism.
• Marxists tend to focus on negative aspects of the nuclear family but functionalists see it as meeting the needs of individuals and society. Parsons, for example, saw the nuclear family as a safe haven that provides spouses with emotional support.