Marxism

• Marxism is a structural conflict theory that says society is built upon the ruling class exploiting the working class
• The ruling class own the forces of production, while the working class only own their labour, despite producing all the value
• Marx says society is divided into two classes - the proletariat (working class) and the bourgeoise (ruling class)
• Marx said that as the bourgeoise owned the means of production (resources, land, technology) and the relations of production (workers/labour), they also owned the superstructure - culture, beliefs, values
• Marx argued industrialised work was alienating because workers never saw their finished product, only ever working on a small part of the production
• Marx said that eventually the proletariat would realise their exploitation and would revolt, overthrowing capitalism and establishing communism instead
• Gramsci said the ruling class maintained power through hegemony - beliefs and values passed down to the working class that promoted and justified the ruling class
• Althusser suggested the ruling class maintained power through force via the repressive state apparatus - police and laws - and through how people think via ideological state apparatus - ideas, propoganda, friends and family
• Elliot argues people are not 'cultural dopes' and are aware they are exploited
• Marxism only focuses on economic factors, but there is conflict in society due to other factors
• Weber says revolution never happened because society never became polarised - rather, the middle class expanded as a reward for compliance
• It could be argued communism in the east failed because it wasn't true communism
• Marx's ideas of polarisation can be seen in political parties in the US and UK today
• It could be argued the two class system oversimplifies current economic complexity in the UK
• Marxism is often criticised for being out of date. This is something that Neo-Marxists seek to rectify
• False class consciousness - proletariat are unable to see their exploitation
• Neo-Marxists argue the proletariat can see their exploitation (dual consciousness) but are unable to do anything about it
• Neo-Marxism may imply activism is pointless because exploitation cannot be stopped