Download Theory: Classical Marxism (conflict)

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Theory: Classical Marxism –A Conflict Theory - A Structural Theory – A Macro Theory
Change in Society – Revolution
Conflict arises because the working classes want higher wages and more benefits and the
ruling classes want to maximise their profits. Classical Marxists would say that this
conflict will continue forever unless the working classes unite and gain class
consciousness and become a class for itself, (they are aware of their exploitation) and
eventually overthrow the ruling classes through a revolution. Marx predicted such a
revolution and because of this social change would be inevitable.
Family
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Religion
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Crime
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Crit
Point
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Education reproduces the social class structure by allocating individuals to jobs on the basis of
social class rather than merit.
The Family socialises people into the ‘status quo’. Children are taught their role in society: boys to
work for the Bourgeoisie without question; girls learn to look after the children, husband and
home.
Marx believes that religion prevents social change and is the ‘opiate of the masses’ i.e. the
purpose of religion is to create illusory fantasies for the poor.
Crime in society is caused by economic inequality and capitalist values.
Laws are created to maintain the power and privilege of the ruling class (e.g. trade union laws).
The police selectively enforce the law against the working class (e.g. more working class than
middle class arrests).
Marxism has theoretical support from Feminism. Marxism has clearly drawn attention to the
plight of the disadvantaged in society, the working class. The theory demonstrates how
society is structured and perpetuates social inequality. Feminists also look at inequalities and
conflicts that exist in society but focus on gender rather than class. Concepts generated by
Marx have also captured the interest of later sociologists, many of which are still used today e.g. alienation
and ideology. This demonstrates wider theoretical appeal.
Marxism accounts for the revolutionary upheaval as societies go through large-scale change. For Society to
change it is only the people who can change it. Empirical evidence includes the French Revolution (1790s), the
Russian Revolution (1917) and the Chinese Revolution (1930s). The Eastern Europe Revolution in 1989 was
also evidence of change demanded by the people but was the beginning of the collapse of communism in
countries such as Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Weaknesses
Application of Marxism
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Positivist because they look for the social causes of
behaviour from a macro/structural approach.
Marxism offers a structural approach which emphasises the importance of the economy in modern capitalist
society and links the major social institutions together. Marxism argues that the various parts of society are
inter-related and affect one another. Marxism also attempts to link the structural elements of society with the
consciousness of the individual.
The ruling class control the economic base and the superstructure (structures in society
such as religion and education). The working classes are therefore subject to ideological conditioning, by the
ruling classes. Therefore the working classes are in a state of false class consciousness, which means that
they are not aware of the full extent of their exploitation.
Education
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Education serves to reproduce and justify the social class structure through its socialisation role
e.g. the hidden curriculum instils acceptance of hierarchies and alienation.
Marxists often sit between the positivist/interpretivist
divide.
Interpretivist because they often favour qualitative
methods.
Strengths
Marxists believe that society can only be understood if we focus on the fact that
capitalist societies are based on conflict, and strive for society to be run by
communism. Marxists say that the conflict is class-based and that there are two
classes who have very different aims in life. These two groups are the bourgeoisie or
the ruling class who own the means of production, such as land and factories, and the proletariat or the
working class who own only their labour power and have to work for the ruling class in
order to survive. The ruling class exploit the working class on two levels – low pay and
alienating work.
Links to RM
Key Ideas
Marxism is a structural theory that studies sociology as a whole. Marxists are critical
of capitalist societies which they see as a society of two parts. The first component or
the foundation of society is the economic base, (infrastructure). The second
component is the superstructure, which includes major agencies of social control
such as education, medicine and religion.
Marxism has been criticised by functionalists for over-emphasising conflict in society. It is
evident that in order for society to work there must be harmony and shared values. It has
also been argued that actually the bourgeoisie can and do make concessions to the
proletariat, such as offering higher wages and voting rights.
Marxism can be criticised for its economic determinism. They place too much emphasis on the economy and
do not fully explore other influential aspects of the social structure, for example religion and education. .
The evidence of communism not working shows that Marxist theory is no longer viable. The collapse of
Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union suggests that the promise of communism has been replaced by the
desire for western-style democracies.
Finally, Marx has a simplistic, one-dimensional view of inequality. Weber argues that status and power
differences can also be important sources of inequality, independently of class. In addition Marx’s two-class
model is also simplistic. E.g. Weber sub-divides the proletariat into skilled and unskilled classes, and includes a
white collar middle class of office workers – all much more relevant to today’s society.
Although Marxists provide a useful insight into the workings of society the theory is ideologically driven. Therefore, the theory is reductionist as it fails to take into account competing theoretical ideas.
Postmodernists are critical of the functional meta-narrative as they claim to have a ‘totalising’ all encompassing) theory of society. Postmodernists maintain that rival narratives should be considered for a full account of
social life.