Marxism and Neo-marxism

• Before private property emerged what type of society did we live in?

  Primitive communism = everything was owned by all members of society
• what did karl marx say was the driving force in society

  The economy = infrastructure
• what is the means of production and who owned it?

  It was owned by the ruling class and it was the factories and land which produced everything
• After private ownership came around what did the relations of production consist of?

  The owning class and non owning
• Who are the proletariat and how are they being exploited by the bourgeoisie?

  The working class = low salary and producing surplus value extra production that society did not need (profits went to ruling class)
• Why didn’t governments just ignore the bourgeoisie when they started to become more powerful?

  Government realised the bourgeoisie had too much power and can influence the economy
• What is the dominant ideology 


  Set of ideas that reflect RC and societies institutions promote.
• What does Marx say the dominant ideology places the proletariat under?


  The proletariat accept their place in society and are put under a false class consciousness
• How does Marx say a revolution will come around?

  Working class develop a class consciousness
• What type of society will replace a capitalist one?

  communist society
• Strengths of traditional marxism


  • Recognises the importance of the economy and how economic changes can influence a wide range of institutions. (2008 global recession= austerity policies = link to education and families)
  • It focuses on private ownership of the means of production provides an explanation for the extreme inequalities in wealth,income and power that persists in society
  • It recognises the importance of society’s social structure and links to the ideas, consciousness and behaviour of individuals and groups
• Criticisms of traditional marxism

  • it is deterministic.It sees individuals as simply passive products of the system which socialises them into conformity.It doesn’t take into account individual choice as social action theorists do + postmodernists do
  • Marx is accused of being economically deterministic it doesn’t allow for the possibility that the ideas and institutions may actually influence behaviour themselves and causes social change independently of the economy
• Criticisms of traditional marxism

  • It is a meta narrative that that tries to explain everything from a single perspective.Post modernists emphasise such metanarratives can longer contemporary society where social life is chaotic, values diverse and social structure fragmented
  • It over emphasises the extent of conflict in society.Functionalists would argue society is primarily stable and there must be shared values for life to be possible
• what did the neo marxist Karl marx argue?

  Institutions spread ruling class ideology
• What did neo marxist Gramsci argue?

  institutions spread ruling class hegemony
• What does Marx place to much emphasis on?

  The economy
• What is hegemony?


  It focuses more on the ideas rather than the economy determining peoples behaviour.Superstructure had relative autonomy from the infrastructure
• What did Gramsci say about Marx?

  He calls him economically deterministic
• What did Gramsci argue society has?

  A dual consciousness meaning people receive a set of beliefs through general socialisation into a dominant culture but have another set of beliefs based on their own practical experiences of life
• A02 - Synoptic link Gramsci 


  Willis and the lads (learning to labour)
• What did Neo-Marxist Althusser argue?

  He argued that capitalism had 3 levels

  • Ideological level
  • Political level
  • Economy
• What did Althusser say was the Ideological level?

  ISA- ideological state apparatus spreads the ruling class ideology
• What did Althusser say the Political level was?

  RSA- repressive state apparatus

  The role of it is to maintain the existing social order and proctect the instrests of the ruling class.It includes institutions such as the government,judiciary,police,military.It helps enforce laws,regulate economic activities and exercise control over the population.
• What did althusser say about the economic level

  He views the economic level of society as fundamental of social relations and power dynamics.He argues that the economic level, controlled by the ruling class plays a central role in shaping overall structure of society.

  It influences the distribution of wealth, resources and oppurtunites, perpetuating class divisions and forms of exploitation.