Marxism

• What do Marxists believe about functionalism?

  It focuses too much on the positive aspects of our institutions
• How do sociologists determine a persons social class?


  Occupation

  Wealth

  Income

  Educational attainment
• What are middle class jobs?

  Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers
• What are working class jobs?

  Shop assistant, electrician, bus driver
• What is capitalism?


  When a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit rather than the state
• What two classes are society divided into?

  Bourgeoisie (middle class)

  Proletariat (working class)
• What is superstructure?


  All societies institutions
• Who has control over the superstructure?

  The ruling class
• What did Karl Marx believe about capitalism?

  It creates alienation and so revolution is inevitable ad communism is the final stage of societal evolution
• What is communism?


  The abolition of private properties and industries
• What is infrastructure?


  The economic system and way that society produces goods
• What is surplus value?

  An unequal exchange of labour and salary only profiting the higher class
• What do the bourgeoisie aim to do?

  Extract maximum labour at minimum cost for maximum profit
• What do the working class (proletariat) want?

  Higher wages

  More benefits

  Better working conditions
• What is false class consciousness?

  Accepting an unequal position in society as natural and inevitable as you are unaware of the depth of your exploitation
• What are the criticisms of Marxism?

  Only focuses on class and ignores other inequalities

  Class is more difficult to define in a contemporary society
• What does it mean to be deterministic?

  To assume that everything is influenced by capitalism and ignore free will
• What is post modernism?

  People being free and not under false consciousness