Working class suffer from false class consciousness; unaware of the exploitation they experience
Social institutions
Marx believed that the social institutions fool the working class into thinking they are getting a fair deal and that their status position is natural and therefore unchangeable
False class consciousness
The ruling class are seen to be acting for the benefit of society and the working class accept and are misled by this view, due to the influence that the social institutions have on the public
Social institutions that influence false class consciousness
Religion
Education
Family
Althusser takes a structuralist view to society and is close to Marx, however he also criticises Marx for his economic determinism beliefs and comes up with his own explanation of how the ruling class control the working class
Althusser's interlocking systems
Economic System - produces all material goods
Political System - Organises Society, passes laws and provides leadership
Ideological System - provides all the ideas and belief systems that are followed by the population
Gramsci
Often referred to as a 'Humanistic Marxist' because he believed the proletariat can influence social change through developing their own 'hegemony' rather than waiting for economic changes that Marx referred to
Counter-hegemony
Gramsci suggested that the proletariat would construct a 'counter-hegemony' to provide people with an alternate way of life to the capitalist state
Capitalism alternatives
Working class intellectuals - a group of well-educated working class individuals who could show the proletariat an alternative to Capitalism
The only way to influence a revolution is by winning the hearts and minds of the proletariat and give them something to believe in
IdeologicalStateApparatus (ISA)
Institutions in society that spread capitalist ideologies of the ruling class
Examples of ISAs
School
Media
Religion
ISAs lead to
False class consciousness in the working class
False class consciousness
Disables social mobility
Marxism is deterministic and overemphasises the role of the family in maintaining capitalism, ignoring other inequalities such as the role of the family in maintaining patriarchy
Marxists would see the family as a unit of consumption theory of capitalism
society is not harmonious but based on a division between bourgeoisie and proletariat, capitalism
cushioning effect:
Zaretsky: The family acts as a comfort from the stresses and strains of society.
Family allows the man to feel in control which they don't feel in the workplace due to bourgeoisie oppression.