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Strengths
- Focused on the effects of capitalism.
- Society's economic system (the infrastructure) influenced its non-economic institutions (the superstructure)
- Most important force in society is class conflict
- Believed that society was divided into two classes
- The Bourgeoisie were the ruling class -they were the minority but had all the money and power
- The Proletariat were the working class - they formed the majority of society but had little of no power
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Weaknesses
- Functionalists say Marx put too much emphasis on the role of economic structures in shaping ideas and beliefs
- Interactionists say he placed too much emphasis on class and not enough on individuals
- Postmodernists say social class doesn't have such an important influence on individual identity any more
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Opportunities
- The superstructure determined the society's beliefs and values
- Workers are employed to produce goods which are sold by their employers at a profit.
- Only a bit of this money end up in the workers' wages - most of it's kept by the employer.
- If workers were allowed to notice the unfairness of this, they'd revolt.
- To avoid revolution, the capitalist system shapes the superstructure to make sure the workers accept their lot in life
- Institutions like the family, education and religion are part of the superstructure. They lead individuals into accepting the inequalities of capitalism.
- Neo-marxism is a 20th century version, developed to be more relevant to the modern world.
- Neo-Marxists focus on ideology. They study how this ideology is communicated and enforced by the ruling class to maintain its power.
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Threats
- Postmodernists say people are defined by the choices they make, not by whether they're a worker of a boss.
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