marxist view on family strengths and weaknesses

Engels claimed that capitalisms emergence created the nuclear family structure, so the bourgeoisie could pass down private property. This article has been fact checked by Saul Mcleod, a qualified psychology teacher with over 17 years' experience of working in further and higher education. Everything you need for your studies in one place. Conflict may come up about what faith the children should be raised in. ; In Zaretsky's view, the family also serves as a vital unit of consumption. Next, we'll consider French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's views on the family. Resultantly, a small percentage of women are housewives. DATE. Create the most beautiful study materials using our templates. Therefore, Marxism does not accept people believing in unscientific matters, and so people are . For Zaretsky, the family could only serve as a way of providing psychological support for its members when there is an end to capitalism (Tilly, 1978). children do learn the skills necessary for lower status occupations-state schools tend to emphasize practical work and apprenticeships. Strengths and weaknesses of religious theories by Durkheim, Marx, and Freud. These alternative conceptions of the family are outside of Marxist analysis of the nuclear family (Thompson, 2014). Marxism ignores the benefits of nuclear family e.g. This is because the bourgeoisie had to find a way to keep property from being shared with everyone else. Lassalle proposed reformism, that is, the view that socialism has to be brought about through democratic procedures, such as universal voting. As Marx believed, there should be equality before the law and societal services, where everyone has an equal stance and opportunity with no dominant gender. Feminists argue that the Marxist focus on social class inequalities downplays the role of patriarchy, which is the real source of female oppression. Feminist perspectives offer a revolutionary critical lens for studying families and for challenging traditional understandings of sex, gender, sexualities, conceptualizations of families . Feminists may appreciate the fact that Marxists have recognised how women within the nuclear family are a) treated as the property of men and b) used as means of producing babies so that sons can inherit property. working class children do perform worse than middle and upper class children. Strength. Here is also commentary on his ideas and cites the mentioned texts. Whilst functionalists see the family as a positive, harmonious unit, Marxists see the family as a reason for social class inequalities in capitalist society. False needs, meanwhile, arise due to the demands of the capitalist system rather than the real needs of individuals. The Marxist perspective on the family is criticised generally and by other structural theories: More about Marxist Perspectives on the Family, Social Construction of Health and Illness, Representation of Social Class In The Media, Distribution of Wealth, Poverty, and Income in the UK, Theoretical Approaches to Welfare Providers. Revision image. For example, the capitalist system depends on the unpaid labor of mothers who reproduce, feed, and clothe future generations of workers. This is because it does not take into account the essential greediness and selfishness of the human being. Worth noting that Capitalist power structures and labour relations are foreign concepts to early humans, so it reproducing capitalist power structures are necessary in order to hijack ones human nature per se (pre-agricultural societies were largely collective), therefore rationalizing it or conditioning consumers. 4. False needs can also include many of the products that people buy out of fear, or in order to make themselves safe, especially if that fear is engineered by the capitalist system in order to keep the population under control (Zaretsky, 2010). Marxism asserts that workers cannot unite if they are divided, and he talks in great deal about the plight of women. Additionally, the Marxist view of the family has been criticized for its over-focus on the negative aspects of the family while ignoring the satisfaction it gives people. This means that they are both interested in how the family contributes to the running of society, rather than how individuals experience family life on a daily basis. Through a set of norms and roles accompanied by the existence of a shared culture which is shaped due to the members of a society, social order is therefore achieved. According to Engels, the monogamous nuclear family only emerged with Capitalism. A strength of marxism is that this theory analyses power and conflict in society. What is the relationship between families and consumption? Marxist feminism is a branch of feminist theory which argues that the main cause of women's oppression is capitalism. Introduction 1.1. Look at the following phrases, are they strengths of Marx's argument or weaknesses of Marxism. Purchases parents make too advantageous for their children educationally. Marxism relies on people to work hard just because they should and to forego the ability to get rich from their efforts. 5. According to Engels, the nuclear family promotes inheritance and consequently intergenerational inequality. Terms in this set (10) Strength. Limitations of Marxism: 1. Basically, Marx was a communist, political journalist and an advocate for human rights, but his philosophyMarxismis a very important aspect in some of the worlds societies to identify. It is the best way of guaranteeing that you are passing on your property to your son, because in a monogamous relationship you have a clear idea of who your own children are. This could include toys, tablets, and subscriptions to entertainment. The family harms women more than the working class, as there are gender inequalities within the working class too. Feminists argue that Marxists focus too much on social class inequalities whilst disregarding the role of the family in maintaining. how social change, especially economic change, has impacted upon the family. Simply put, a Marxist perspective is one that originates from the theory of Marxism. Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources. Middle-class children are also likely to know the 'right' ways of behaving, speaking, and dressing that are valued by other middle-class adults, such as teachers. children also gain the qualifications . Organized. Criticisms of the Marxist view of the family. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the functionalist view on society. Marxism is also a structural theory, which means it believes societal structures shape individuals. Univ of North Carolina Press. we have private and state schools which can make our education system unequal. In Marxism, the bourgeoisie gain their wealth through exploiting the labor of the proletariat. However, fundamentally, Zaretsky did not believe that the family is able to provide for the psychological and social needs of the individual. Properties and resources were owned collectively. In fact, family breakdown may be better for Capitalism as divorce is expensive and more money has to be spent on maintaining family relationships and later on forming new families. Or your coParent may remarry someone of another faith. Bourdieu claimed that the family reproduces social class inequalities in every generation through its children. 2 - The nuclear family structure allows for the inheritance of private property, which reproduces social class inequalities. However, Zaretsky believed that the family allowed the breadwinner man to feel in control and strong, which they did not feel at work due to the oppression of the bourgeoisie capitalist class. Marxist theory considers false needs to be perceived needs created by the capitalist system, rather than by people's real needs (Zaretsky, 2010). But when that worker has to also take dependents into account (e.g. It states that even if people belong to families, they have individual interpretation of things. Pros of Marxism. Capitalism, increasing wealth and gender equality within a nation seem to be correlated. We will do this by considering criticisms generally, and criticisms from other structural theories. Subsequently, as adults, they can't get well-paid jobs and therefore are unable to 'move up' the social ladder and improve their circumstances. Marx believed that there should be no ownership of private property because this reproduces social class inequalities and benefits the bourgeoisie. Middle-class students are more likely to have positive experiences and higher expectations of education, e.g. The powerful social class, the bourgeoisie, exploits the weaker social class, the proletariat. WEAKNESSES. http://monthlyreview.org/2014/06/01/marx-on-gender-and-the-family-a-summary/. Despite some experiments with communal living and alternative households immediately after the Russian Revolution, people have continued to live in family groups in communist countries too. Strengths of Marxism: The first critical theory which explains the huge and persistent inequalities in society. Writing from the Marxist perspective, the sociologist Zaretsky developed the view that modern capitalist society created an illusion that the "private life" of the family is separate from the economy. Cite evidence from the text to support your response. . Cheering for the oppressed proletarian majority has had, and still has, many . We will look at the key terms presented by each Marxist. We will look at a definition of a Marxist perspective before we consider Marxist perspectives on the family. And why is the ownership of private property important? Mass media and advertising campaigns help to feed this. The bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, used their personal wealth to invest in businesses in order to make a profit which they did not invest for the benefit of everyone else. This could be for the whole family sick as a new car or parents giving their children high-status clothes or electronics. However, the emergence of capitalism, a system of private ownership, in the 18th century changed society and the family. The Marxist Perspective on The Family. It is a set of structural conflict approaches which views society as a conflict between men and women. For Engels, then, family is all about blood lines and proof of parentage. Talcott Parsons is a functionalist and he claims that the family has positive functions, such as providing a 'safe haven' and place of comfort for its members. Further exacerbating these purchases motivated by "false needs" is the built in obsolescence of many products. In essence, it organizes society under capitalism, where the bourgeoisie tends to maximize profit with the proletariat. . Marxists have been criticized for overemphasizing how the family is shaped by the needs of capitalism. Marx also gives people of lower social class confidence and hope in trying to overthrow capitalism by standing up for their human rights. Overall strengths. This again ties in with Fran Ansleys Marxist-feminist perspective of women being the takers of shit. The bourgeoisie owned all of the wealth and resources and passed it down to the next generation of rich capitalists whilst the proletariat, the working masses, had nothing. It creates a system of true equality. The family and change. Next, we'll look at American professor Eli Zaretksy's views on the family. Free and expert-verified textbook solutions. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Now that we have outlined the general thesis of Marxism, let us consider the Marxist perspectives on the family. The major weakness of Marxism is that it does not seem to work in the real world. People are influenced to compete with each other through consumption. Universality is when one group takes power and seeks to justify it on the grounds that it represents "freedom for all.". marxism helps explain conflict and change; Disadvantages. In Book 1, lines 504-524, what does Phoebus say to Daphne to try fto persuade her to stop running away from him? Marxists believe that the family is a tool We will start by recapping our knowledge of Marxism generally. Marxism points out the unpleasant aspects of family life and the inequalities of power within the family. Boston Spa, Families: Marxism. The division of labor was, for Marx, the very essence of all that is wrong with the world. complete with a powerpoint explaining Marxism at an accessible level. The New Right argues that there are benefits of the nuclear family, such as the support given to children by two parents. Society does not have a life of its own (organic analogy), it is dependent on the . Psychoanalytic View. A family is a stable unit and institution that keeps society stable. Functions of the family: Marxism The functionalist approach illustrates how a social institution can work at two different levels - both fulfilling the needs of each individual and meeting the needs of the whole society at the same time. It helps with capitalism. Purchases parents make to give their family a sense of status to outsiders. However, with the emergence of Capitalism in the 18th Century, society and the family changed. It offers benefits to the society. 1. Later, they may also spend a lot of money marrying others and forming new families. Companies build demand for their products through targeted advertising to children, who request expensive products from their parents. While Marxists focus on the nuclear family by way of showing how it meets the needs of capitalism, Marxists ignore recent economic and educational changes which seem to have resulted in a radical change in how women think of their careers. It can lead to communism. There are two additional main factors that drive the family as a unit of consumption in the view of contemporary Marxists (Delphy, 1980): Families must keep up with the material goods and services acquired by neighbors and peers. 50 pages of revision notes covering all of the sub-topics within families and households, mind maps in pdf and png format 9 in total, coveringperspectives on the family. Women are now generally in control of their sexuality e.g. Honesty alone bridges the communication gap. According to Marxist sociologists, this family structure enables the bourgeoisie (the elite ruling class) to pass down their capital and private property to their children. Marxists . This is a complete mischaracterization of Marxism. Along with the creation of social class inequalities, Engels claimed that the nuclear family also created gender inequality as men took control of women's sexuality and labour to reproduce and raise the next generations. Before Capitalism, traditional, tribal societies were classless and they practised a form of primitive communism in which there was no private property.

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