AQA A2 Sociology Unit 4 - Methods and Context

Marxism = conflict theory about the divide between the working class and ruling class

• Superstructure of society - Institutions, Family and Religion are all influences by EB
• Economic Base - Means of production and Relation to production 

Private owner ship and social class

• Primative society - enough to survive 
• Mass production - Working class dependancy culture ( Selling their labour)

Social inequality

• Recognised expolitation of the working class to create a surplus value 
• Bourgeoisie - exploit to make a profit, Proletariat are the exploited labour force
• Capitalism are the dominant ideology - need to make a profit over better wages
• Ruling class hold the means of production - hire and fire, factories, economy
• Dominant institutions based on ruling class values - Religion (Opiot for the expoitation)

Revolution - class consiousness = revolution = communism 

Neo-Marxists thought Marx placed too much importance of the economy

Gramsci - Hedgemony

• This stops the revolution as this maintains ruling class ideology and influences behaviour
• This stopped the rebellion 

Althusser - Capitalist Society System (Divide of Economic Base)

• The Economic Level - economy and production of material goods
• The Political Level - RSA - Government Organisations that involve politics and control
• The Ideological Level - ISA - Ideas beliefs, values = Religion,Mass Media and Education

Evaluations 

• Marx - Shows importance of economy and private ownership
• Marx - Predictions did not come true, Overemphasise, Metanarrative
• Neo - Relative Autonomy and peoples idea's and how this effects institutions
• Neo - Importance of the idea and meanings of individuals 

Feminist see society as patriarchal - they want equality

Liberal - Want equality,Some progress,Oakley - Media improvements,Challenge expressive role

Helen Wilkinson - Genderquake in society's views on women

• Evaluations - Don't recognise causes, too simplisitic, changing laws not views 

Marxist - Women capitalism are reserve force and repoduction of labour, Ansley - takers of ****

Barret - Family is the only way to fufill life - oppression / Benson - Capitalism ideology

• Evaluations - Fails to explain subordination in communism, How it maintains subordination

Radical - Partriachal = inequality, Political lesbianism, unpaid labour and sexual service, 

Firestone - Biologically dependant / Christine Delphy - Gender over class

• Evaluation - Relationships involve power, Domination, Abuse by men

Difference - Social class effects patriarchy ( White,Western, Heterosexual, Middle Class)

Feminism and Research 

• Reinhart - Research as **** - Reject structures interviews = expolitation of the gender
• Oakley - Positive Masculine approach - High value on objectivity and science

Feminism Approach

• Oakley - Values in ( Smart -Standpoint empiricism)
• Involvement and non-detached
• Equality between researched and researcher 

Need 

Need