marxism

• Like functionalists, Marxists are keen to find out overall function of the family for society. , But they reject functionalist view society is based on value consensus .Instead they argue capitalist society is organised around conflict between social classes and exploitation rather than social order
• • Most important part of capitalist society, according to Marxists, is economy which call the 'economic infrastructure'. Marxists -society is made up of two social classes: the bourgeoisie and proletariat. Argue that the upper/middle class (bourgeoisie) are more powerful in society, and that power is economic (based on wealth). The bourgeoisie own the 'means of production' factories, technology, i.e. machines, houses, land etc.
• • The capitalist class needs labour power of the majority class, i.e. the working class or proletariat. Marxists -relationship between capitalist class and working class is characterised by exploitation as wages of working class do not reflect the true value of the work that they do for the bourgeoisie. The difference between the wage paid and true value of the work done by the proletariat is known as surplus value. This is pocketed by the capitalist class and is source of their wealth. The capitalist infrastructure is characterised by great class inequalities in income and wealth.
• Bourgeoisie


  The capitalist class
• Superstructure


  Made up of social institutions such as the family, the education system, the mass media, religion and the political system
• Function of the superstructure

  • Convincing those at the bottom of society that those at the top of society deserve their success and those at the bottom of society is result of their own shortcoming
  • Helps to maintain inequality between the two social classes
• The ideas presented by the superstructure are presented as 'facts'
• False class consciousness

  The working class are never aware of the true extent of their exploitation and are encouraged instead to focus on improving their standard of living through working harder, and through consumerism and materialism
• The working class are discouraged from thinking about changes to the capitalist system, e.g. by insisting on a fairer distribution of society's wealth and resources
• Marxists argue


  The bourgeoisie has created the 'superstructure' to legitimise class inequality
• • Marxists are much more pessimistic about the role of the family- family is used by the capitalist class to ensure the extreme inequalities in wealth and income produced by the capitalist economic system are never challenged. The family is part of the superstructure of capitalist system and functions to socialise children into norms and values that result in them becoming passive law- abiding citizens and workers .In other words, the family functions to transmit ruling-class ideology. 
• •  Zaretsky's ideas present a very different view to Parsons' account of primary socialisation of children where norms and values learned within the family are simply seen to benefit social order. 
• Marxists Zaretsky's version of the warm bath theory - family is a psychological outlet for stress is still comforting but this mainly benefits the capitalist class.
• Marxism


  Marxists are keen to find out the overall function of the family for society, but they reject the functionalist view that society is based on value consensus. Instead, they argue that capitalist society is organised around conflict between social classes and exploitation rather than social order.
• Marxist view of capitalist society

  • The most important part of capitalist society is the economy, which Marxists call the 'economic infrastructure'
  • Capitalist society is made up of two social classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat
  • The bourgeoisie are more powerful in society, and their power is economic (based on wealth)
  • The bourgeoisie own the 'means of production' (factories, technology, machines, houses, land etc.)
  • The capitalist class needs the labour power of the working class (proletariat)
  • The relationship between the capitalist class and the working class is characterised by exploitation as the wages of the working class do not reflect the true value of the work they do
  • The difference between the wage paid and the true value of the work done by the proletariat is known as surplus value, which is pocketed by the capitalist class and is the source of their wealth
  • The capitalist infrastructure is characterised by great class inequalities in income and wealth
• Superstructure


  Made up of social institutions such as the family, the education system, the mass media, religion and the political system, whose main function is to legitimise class inequality and convince those at the bottom of society that those at the top deserve their success
• False class consciousness


  The working class are kept in a state where they are never aware of the true extent of their exploitation and are instead encouraged to focus on improving their standard of living through working harder, consumerism and materialism, and are discouraged from thinking about changes to the capitalist system
• Marxist view of the family

  • The family is used by the capitalist class to ensure the extreme inequalities in wealth and income produced by the capitalist economic system are never challenged
  • The family is part of the superstructure of the capitalist system and functions to socialise children into norms and values that result in them becoming passive, law-abiding citizens and workers
  • The family functions to transmit ruling-class ideology
• Engels' view of the history of the family

  • Primitive communism: no private property, family as we know it did not exist, human beings lived in 'promiscuous hordes' or tribes
  • Era of capitalism: nuclear family based on monogamy only developed with the emergence of capitalism, which led to the accumulation of private property and wealth. The nuclear family was adopted by capitalists as it provided the most efficient way of ensuring that wealth and private property was inherited by a person's direct descendants.
• Engels' view of the rise of the nuclear family


  It represented the "world historical defeat of the female sex" as it meant women became seen as the private property of men, controlled sexually and financially by their husbands. Women were turned into 'an instrument for the production of children'.
• Althusser's view of the family


  The family, like other institutions in society, acts as an ideological state apparatus, which operates as a form of social control to pass on the ideology of the ruling class.
• Poulantzas' view of the family

  The family is part of an Ideological state apparatus, which is controlled by the ruling class and used to create values, such as the nuclear family being the best form of family structure.
• Marxist-feminists


  Criticise traditional Marxists for failing to highlight the particular way in which females are exploited by capitalism and how this exploitation contributes towards the reproduction of class inequalities in wealth and income
• Marxist feminists


  Argue that most nuclear families are patriarchal or male dominated
• Cooper's view of the family

  The nuclear family is an ideological apparatus that promotes values and ways of thinking that are essential to the reproduction and maintenance of capitalism, such as teaching children not to question authority through discipline and sanctions.
• How the position of females in the nuclear family benefits capitalism

  1. Mums reproduce next gen of workers and socialise kids into capitalist norms and values - all done at no extra cost to the bourgeoisie or capitalist class

  2. Women are responsible for the majority of domestic tasks. They do not get paid for this and provide capitalism with a free service

  3. Women, especially mothers of children, form a reserve army of labour - a stock of low-paid and often part-time casual workers who can be hired when the economy is strong but who will be the first to be fired during economic recession
• Capitalist ideology makes clear that a woman's main responsibility is to her children, husband and home


  Exploitative practices are rarely questioned
• Dual burden


  Women who do work also do the majority of the tasks around the home
• Zaretsky's view of the family

  • The family acts as a 'safety valve' (comforting device) for the worker against the hardships of an oppressive and exploitative workplace, allowing the worker to forget their problems and return to work the next day to be freshly exploited
  • The family acts as a unit of consumption, where the majority of consumer goods and services are consumed, which is essential to the success and profitability of the capitalist system
  • The family encourages the pursuit of 'false needs' in the form of the latest consumer goods, which not only stimulates the economy and boosts profits for the ruling classes but also distracts workers from the need to seek equality and justice.
• Triple shift


  Women who do work also do the majority of the tasks around the home
• Marxist-feminist Fran Ansley


  The alienated male factory or office worker may return to his home and direct his frustration and anger towards his wife rather than the ruling-class or in the workplace in the form of industrial action
• Married women are described as 'takers of shit' in the form of domestic violence
• Domestic abuse


  Soaks up the frustration caused by the powerlessness experienced by working-class men which might otherwise be directed at the ruling class and the capitalist system
• Not everyone experiences the family as negative or oppressive
• Many women experience egalitarian (equal) domestic relationships were household roles and chores are equally shared between the male and female partner
• Marxists ignore accounts of family life in which some females suggest motherhood and caring for a family is a fulfilling and rewarding experience
• Catherine Hakim pointed out that women now have choices and despite the availability of choice and diversity in postmodern society many still chose the conventional nuclear family
• Engels


  Examined how the family had evolved and changed throughout history
• Eras of human history according to Engels

  • Primitive communism
  • Capitalism
• Primitive communism


  • No private property
  • Family as we know it today did not exist
  • Human beings lived in 'promiscuous hordes' or tribe
  • Very few rules limiting sexual relationships, e.g. marriage did not exist
  • Children were brought up by whole tribe rather than parents