Zaretsky

• Zaretsky believed the modern family served three functions:

  1. The family as a unit of consumption.
  2. A 'safe haven'.
  3. 'Props up' capitalism
• The Family as a Unit of Consumption

  • The family consumes goods produced by capitalism.
• In a preindustrial era

  • Families produced goods through agriculture which they then consumed, or sold/traded to others for resources which they would reinvest in themselves.
• In a industrial era

  • Families consume goods which are produced by the owners of the means of production. Workers produce nothing for themselves and sell their labour in exchange for a wage.
• The family as a Unit of consumption

  • Urbanisation- the working class, who now lived in built up cities and towns, had neither the space or land to be self-sufficient. They were dependent on exchanging their labour for capital which they could use to buy products they needed.
• The family only consumes goods and doesn't produce them; Zaretsky argues this function of the family makes it a major unit of consumption for capitalism and an excellent source of profits.
• The family as a unit of consumption

  • Pre-industrial... children helped to produce goods in agricultural settings and were an economic asset.
  • Industrial... Children bring nothing to the family home and are an economic liability.
• Marxists recognize the superstructure serves an ideological function- to provide individuals and families with false needs and the desire for material consumption.
• The family as a unit of consumption

  • Children have 'pester power'- where they nag their caregivers to buy them products.
  • Within the family there is a pressure to "keep up with the Jones's".
  • False needs keep the proletariat invested in material possessions and consumption as a distraction from their inequality- it keeps them in false consciousness.
• The family as a 'Safe Haven'

  • coming home to the family was a way to pit up with the stress and tension of work, and refresh men before returning to work the next day; it freed them from the effects of capitalism.
  • Zaretsky calls this 'the Cushioning Effect'
  • Zaretsky argued this was not a positive!
• The family as a 'Safe Haven'

  • Zaretsky said this cushioning effect is not enough to relieve the stresses of capitalism; men are still alienated from their work.
  • Marxist Feminists argue this 'release of stress at home' is bad for women- "women as the takers of shit".
  • Zaretsky notes working men who have families are less likely to engage in action which threatens their income i.e. striking which benefits capitalism.
• The family 'props up' capitalism

  • Women are a force of unpaid labour for capitalism:
  • complete domestic roles
  • Reproduce labour power
  • Socialise children to accept capitalist ideology
  • This allows men to focus solely on work, which benefits capitalism.
  • The family as 'props up' capitalism by acting as a unit of consumption!
• Zaretsky concludes the family is not a private space separate from work and capitalism; it is an institution dedicated to cushioning capitalism's effects and suppressing ideas and behaviour which could challenge the bourgeoisie and their capitalist ideology.

  It maintains the status quo.
• Evaluations of Zaretsky

  • Feminists- ignoring the role of women as more than caregivers and reproducers of workers.
  • Feminists- assumes there is only one paid worker in each family- the man.
  • Economically deterministic- assumes the economy is the most important factor.
  • Assumes all individuals are passively accepting of capitalist ideology and unable to reject it.
  • Functionalists- Zaretsky clearly ignores all the positive benefits of the family.