marxism

• Marxism


  A structural conflict theory
• Marxism


  • Suggests there is a class conflict in society
• Karl Marx lived


  1818 to 1883
• Karl Marx


  A historian and economist
• Karl Marx lived in Europe during the mid-late 19th century
• Karl Marx was concerned by rapid social changes which were linked to the industrial revolution, leading to poverty and inequality in Europe
• Social classes in Marxism

  • Bourgeoisie (the rich, upper class, minority)
  • Proletariat (the working class, majority)
• Bourgeoisie


  The rich, upper class minority who own the means of production (factories, raw materials and land), and want money, to maximise profit and power
• Proletariat


  The working class majority who own nothing but their own labour, which they have to sell to the bourgeoisie in order to survive, and want better pay and equality
• Means of production


  Everything needed for production in the industrial era, including raw materials, land, machinery, and factories
• The bourgeoisie controlled the production and exploited the proletariat for their labour
• Exploitation of the proletariat

  1. Goods are exchanged for money

  2. Proletariat need goods to survive but have no money to pay

  3. Only way to afford goods was to sell labour

  4. Bourgeoisie wanted to maximise profits so they could pay low wages
• Base-superstructure model of society

  The economic base is made from the Means of Production and Relations of Production, which the bourgeoisie control, and this allows them to also control the societal superstructure
• How the bourgeoisie use social institutions to their advantage

  • Education: raising next generation of workers, filtering topics taught, encouraging career focus
  • Media: propaganda glorifying capitalist system, images of happy workers
  • Family: supports local economy, provides comfort and safety
  • Religion: 'religion is the opium of the masses', providing comfort to the proletariat
• Ideology


  A set of ideas or beliefs that persuades the proletariat that the interests of the bourgeoisie are in fact the interests of all, leading to false class consciousness
• Karl Marx: '"Let the ruling classes tremble at the communistic revolution the proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win, workers of all countries, unite!"'
• Karl Marx believed that class conflict would eventually lead to the working-class overthrowing capitalism and creating a classless, communist society where every member is equal
• Strengths of Marxism


  • Clearly shows how the structure of capitalist society manipulates its members and shapes their behaviour
  • Acknowledged class conflict and inequality, convincing governments to tackle social-class inequality
  • Ideas are still useful today in explaining inequality in society
• Weaknesses of Marxism


  • Predicted a revolution that never happened
  • Argued that people passively accept capitalist ideology and are unaware of their own exploitation, ignoring worker's free will
  • Oversimplified society into only two classes
  • Difficult to have a successful revolution
• economic base

  
• ideology and false class consciousness

  ›The class that owns the means of production also owns and controls the production of ideas ›The institutions that produce and spread ideas, such as education, religion and the media, all produce ideologies that legitimise the existing social order as desirable or inevitable ›Ideology therefore fosters a false class consciousness in the subordinate classes and helps to sustain class
• Functionalists argue that classical Marxism


  Overemphasises the amount of conflict in society
• Functionalists argue that society


  Is primarily stable as it is based on consensus
• The fact that Marx's predicted revolution has not succeeded in any Western society

  Supports the functionalist view
• Feminists argue that classical Marxism


  Overemphasises social class as a source of inequality and conflict, and pays little attention to other sources e.g. gender
• Interactionists argue that classical Marxism

  Is too deterministic
• Interactionists criticise the base-superstructure model for


  Its economic determinism
• Interactionists criticise classical Marxism in general for

  Seeing individuals simply as passive puppets of the social system who are socialised into conformity - it doesn't allow for free will or individual choice
• Strengths of classical Marxism

  • Recognises the importance of the economy and how economic changes can influence a wide range of other social institutions
  • Focus on private ownership of the means of production provides an explanation for extreme social inequalities in wealth, income and power that still exist in contemporary societies, and the conflicts that arise as a result of these inequalities
  • Recognises the importance of today's social structure, and how this affects the ideas, consciousness and behaviour of individuals and groups
  • Remains a highly influential theory, and has had influence on a range of other sociological theories e.g. Marxist feminism