Engels argues that monogamy became essential because men needed to ensure that they were the father of the child so that they could pass down their property to the legitimate heir. However, the Marxists see this as a major problem due to the exploitation taking place. They believe that not only does capitalism need to be overthrown, but the abolishment of private ownership of the means of production aswell. Doing this would also give women liberty which would be in favour of Marxist feminists. Marxists believe that the ideological function of the family is wrong.
This led to the patriarchal monogomous nuclear family. Engels view was that the owners of the private property (men) wanted to make sure that it was their heirs that inherited from them therefore it was necessary that monogomous nuclear families developed. Marx and Engels both claimed that the patriarchal nuclear family kept women under male control and
Murdoch says that the nuclear family is "universal and natural", however, by taking a cross cultural look at families this has been proved to be blatantly false. Feminists also argue that the functionalist view of the expressive and instrumental roles as natural are in fact socially constructed. Feminists also disagree with Murdoch's idea that the nuclear family is natural, believing that there is no preferable family structure and encourage family diversity. Feminists would argue that the functionalist view of the family encourages oppression of women. Marxists argue that the functionalist view of the family views those family structures which support and benefit Capitalism and that the nuclear family is part of the superstructure with the sole purpose of perpetuating a capitalist system.
They disregard the feminists demand for equality in conjugal roles as they believe that a division of labour where woman focus upon the home is instinctive, natural and functional. Marxists feminists, however, agree that the trad nuclear family should be dismantled as it is the corner stone of capitalism which they believe to be problematic. Firstly they see the family
It stretches the line between the rich and the poor, creating class struggles and inequality. However, capitalism is known as lasissez-faire capitalism, which means the government doesn’t interfere in the market. Which is not the case in the U.S.? Capitalism is welfare or state capitalism, where private citizens own the means of production and pursue of profits. But they do so by a vest system of laws to protect the population.
Marxist are conflict theorists. They believe that the society is based on the conflict of interest between the social groups with unequal power; namely the bourgeoisie and the social classes. Marxists believe the nuclear family is a tool of the ruling class, an institution used to teach its members to submit to ruling class authority. One example of the family helping to propel capitalism was highlighted by Engles (1884) who noted that within a nuclear family, any property owned by parents is often left to their children through inheritance. This helps to maintain the wealth of the bourgeoisie.
Marxist perspective of families and households (24 marks) Marxists view society as being based on inequality between the working class and the capitalist ruling class. They believe that all of society’s institutions, including the family are set up to serve the needs of capitalism, by maintaining the status quo of class inequality thus keeping the ruling class in control, and the working class oppressed by the capitalist elite. Marxists argue that the traditional family performs a range of functions which benefit capitalism, and that working class family members are tricked into believing actually benefit them. The first function that Marxists argue that the family performs for capitalism is the inheritance of property. In a classless society, there would be no private property, as the means of production would be owned communally.
According to the bizfinance.com, Capitalism and Socialism are political, economic and social systems in use by many countries around the world. In Capitalist system the means of production are owned by private individuals. That is to say, that main goal of such a system is maximizing profit for shareholders and partners. A good example of the Capitalists system is the United States of American where land and businesses etc are owned by private individual, but the Government interferes by putting in and enforcing necessary legislation to protect individuals. Competition between various businesses ensures a variety of goods and services to consumers, in a range of prices.
Now we will talk about mode of production. It is the organization of economic production in a given society and the way it evolves over time. In the capitalist mode of production both the inputs and outputs of production are privately owned, the main goal of production is to achieve maximum profit, and in capitalism you have the working class selling their working power in exchange for wages and the capitalist paying them at
Marxists see all institutions, not only family and households, but media and education as maintaining class inequality or capitalism. This means that the ideals the children of one generation are brought up in are then imposed onto their children. From this perspective, the family is stationary in classification or region it has been, as the morals, norms, ideals and protocol are inherited from their predecessors, thereby in effect ‘socialising the children into exploitation’. Marxists say there are three main functions of the family. The first function is ‘inheritance of property’.