Marxist

• Structuralist Theory

  Marxism has one thing in common with functionalism . It tends to share the view hat society is a structure or system that shapes an individuals behaviour and ideas. However it differs from functionalism in 2 ways

  Firstly marxists see society as being based on conflict between the social classes and not based on value consensus secondly Marxists reject the idea that society is stable and stress the possibility of sudden revolutionary change.
• Marx’s Ideas

  Karl Marx is regarded as one of the key founders of sociology his main ideas have had a huge impact on the development of the subject.

  His main focus was attempting to understand citalis in the 19th century in doing so Marx developed a range of concepts and theories that sociologists have tried to apply and develop.
• Economic Determinism (infrastructure/superstructure model)

  Key principle for Marx is economic determinism - idea that the economy determines every other aspect of society. Society is based in the fact that humans must engage in production

  to meet their material needs such as food clothing and shelter.
• Economic Determinism (2)

  Form that production takes (kind of technology) and they way it’s organised (how labour is divided) shapes everything else about society . It’s institutions ideas and beliefs. Sometimes this is called infrastructure/superstructure model . The capitalist economy being the infrastructure with all other features of society arising from it and shaped by it.
• Captitalsim and Class Conflict

  Marx was concerned with capitalist society and class conflict . He arched that capitalism had 3 distinctive features

  1. Capitalist society is divided into 2 social classes , the bourgeoise and proletariat . Bourgeoise own means of production (factories ) and prolertariat nothing but labour. Proletariat sell their labour power to bourgeoise in return for wages to survive. This isn’t an equal exchange
• Stages in History.

  For Marx , capitalism was merely a stage in history he buleved there would be a final stage (4) where a communist or socialist society would replace capitalism. Collective production would remain but ownerhsip would change dramatically. Instead of bourgeoise owning means if production ownership will be by all. Members would share wealth that their labour produced
• 1. Ideology & false class consciousness

  For Marx, capitalism is maintained firstly by the power of the capitalist state - prisons, police, courts, armies etc. These ‘physical’ aspects of capitalism can be used to suppress opposition. What Althusser would call the repressive state apparatus.
• Ideology & fake class consciousness (2)

  Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, by means of a capitalist ideology - beliefs and ideas that justify the rule of the minority, often spread by the mass media, religion and the education system – the proletariat can be persuaded to accept capitalist rule. As a result of what Althusser calls the ideological state apparatus, the overthrow of capitalism has been prevented (or, according to Marx, postponed.) Ideology fosters a false class consciousness in the working classes and helps maintain class inequality.
• 1. Alienation

  Marx believes that our true nature is based on our capacity to create things to meet our needs, Alienation is the result of our loss of control over our labour and its products and therefore our separation from our true nature.
• 1. Class consciousness

  According to Marx, capitalism sows the seeds of its own destruction. For example, by polarising the classes, bringing the proletariat together in ever larger numbers and driving down wages, capitalism creates the conditions under which the working class can develop a consciousness of its own economic and political interest in the opposition of its exploiters.
• (Humanist or Critical Marxism)

  The most important example of humanist Marxism is Antonio Gramsci (1891 – 1937). Gramsci introduces the concept of hegemony, or ideological and moral leadership of society, to explain how the ruling class maintains its position. He argues that the proletariat must develop its own ‘counter-hegemony’ to win the leadership of society from the bourgeoisie.
• 1. Hegemony

  Gramsci rejects economic determinism as an explanation of change: the transition from capitalism to communism will never come about simply as a result of economic forces. Even though factors such as mass unemployment and falling wages may create the preconditions for revolution, ideas lay a central role in determining whether or not change will actually occur
• Hegemony (2)

  Gramsci sees the ruling class maintaining dominance over society in two ways:

  • Coercion: It uses the army, police, prisons and courts of the capitalist state to force other classes to accept its rule.

  Consent (hegemony): It uses ideas and values to persuade the subordinate classes that its rule is legitimate.
• 1. Revolution

  In advanced capitalist societies, the ruling class rely heavily on consent to maintain their rule. Gramsci agrees with Marx that they are able to do so because the control the institutions that produce and spread ideas, such as the media, the education system and religion. So long as the rest of society accepts ruling-class hegemony, there will not be a revolution, even when the economic conditions might seem favourable.
•  hegemony of the ruling class is never complete for two reasons:

  • The ruling class are a minority. To rule, they need to create a power bloc by making alliances with other groups such as the middle classes. They must therefore make ideological compromises to take into account the interests of their allies.

  The proletariat have a duel consciousness. Their ideas are influenced not only by bourgeois ideology, but also by their material conditions of life – the poverty and the exploitation they experience. This means they can ‘see through’ the dominant ideology to some degree.