Marxism and the Family

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  • Marxism and the Family
    • Marxism is a ‘structural conflict’ perspective.
      • Working in the interests of the small elite class who have economic power (The Bourgeoisie)
        • Gain their wealth from exploiting the proletariat. There is thus a conflict of interests between The Bourgeoise and The Proletariat.
          • Rarely boils over into a revolution because institutions such as the family perform the function of ‘ideological control’
    • Explaining the emergence of the nuclear family – Engels
      • Before Capitalism, traditional, tribal societies were classless and they practised a form of ‘primitive communism’ in which there was no private property.
        • ‘promiscuous horde’ in which there were no restrictions on sexual relationships.
      • Engles (1884) said the family had an economic function of keeping wealth within the bourgeoisie by passing it onto the next generation  as inheritance
  • Zaretsky focused on how the family helped the capitalist economy
    • He argued that the family is one place in society where the proletariat can have power and control
      • When a working man gets home, he is the king of his own castle
        • This relieves some of the frustration workers feel about their low status, which helps them to accept their oppression

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