Assess the extent to which Marxist and Feminist theories help our understanding of religion in society today (33marks) The Marxist perspective of society is a structural conflict theory based on the conflict between the ruling/capitalist class and the working class. The ruling class also known as the bourgeoisie; who own most of society’s wealth and the means of production. The Working class is also commonly known as the proletariat who are, according to Marxist theorists, being exploited in the working industry by the bourgeoisie to gain profit. They use the Economic Determinism model to show how the economic base, which shows the means of production being owned by the ruling classes, determines the ISAs and argue that we are being controlled by the ruling class through the use of the ISAs which teach the DVS to us. Through this we have learned that as working class, we expect and accept that we will be exploited by the ruling class in terms of our surplus value.
Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat” (Marx and Engels 1848). Social class, therefore, is based upon economic criteria and conflict occurs between those who own the means of production (bourgeoisie) and the wage-labourers (proletariat). As well as having economic control over the proletariat, the bourgeoisie also have the power to determine the superstructure; the ruling class can distort perceptions of the world and hide the true nature of social relationships and the exploitation of the proletariat and, above all, promote bourgeoisie interests. Marx defines production as workers selling their labour for wages in order to exchange money for commodities that will meet their most basic needs. As Marx
In the second section, “Cultural Theory,” in Marxism and Literature, Raymond Williams offers the traditional definition of hegemony, as well as the different aspects of the concept itself. In his most simple definition, Williams states, “it is, that is to say, in the strongest sense a ‘culture’, but a culture which has also to be seen as the lived dominance and subordination of particular classes” (110). Many, if not all, of the texts on the reading list are demonstrative of this ability of one class to assert its power over a lower class. Contrastingly, in order to disrupt the hegemony, those who suffer from subordination will perform counter-hegemonic acts. Williams further explains that “[a] lived hegemony is always a process” and therefore
Her mother, being a maid, tries to talk Rosaura out of going to Luciana’s birthday party since she knows of the harsh reality of social classes (p. 9). Due to her supposed friendship with Luciana, Rosaura evidently lacks any knowledge about the concept of social status. Rosaura’s blindness to her social class is reinforced by her refusal to listen to her own mother, who knows much more about life’s difficulties than Rosaura does. Secondly, Rosaura ends up in an argument towards the beginning of Luciana’s birthday party with the girl with the bow. The girl with the bow directly states that Rosaura isn’t Rosaura’s friend, since she knows all of Luciana’s friends and that she doesn’t know Rosaura.
Esperanza is first presented with other’s assumption towards her and her social standing when the nun scoffed at the notion of her living in the broken down Laundromat. “You live there?” (Cisneros 5). Growing up, Esperanza never thought twice about her place in the world or her family’s social standing until the nun belittles her by rudely emphasizing the fact that she lives “there”. The word ‘there’ is meant to describe the location of something, but the way the nun uses it reveals distinct classism. The ‘there’ from which Esperanza comes from suddenly has negative connotation.
After losing a lot of their money, she was traveling to the United States and a little peasant girl asked if she can play with Esperanza’s doll which was from her father, when the little girl asked, Esperanza began yelling and saying no to her. Mama said she was sorry, and made the little peasant girl a doll in return. Another person Esperanza is very different from is Miguel. Miguel was Esperanza’s family servant. He and Esperanza were in love with each other but could not marry because of the different classes.
Instead of studying social economics as a whole, other social sciences may study about the distribution of economic goods and how it affects an individual. In other words, a sociologist emphasizes social behavior, but a psychologist will focus more on individual behavior. Karl Marx believed that economics was the underlying key to understanding human society. His idea was that social conflict leads to change in society. Conflict resulted from the struggles of different social classes over the means of production.
Feminists believe that marriage remains patriarchal and that men benefit from wives. Feminists reject the idea of ‘one best’ family type, they welcome freedom and diversity. There is more than one feminist perspective, two of which include Marxist feminists and Radical feminists. Marxist feminists emphasise how capitalism uses the family to oppress women, and the harmful consequences of the family to women’s lives. For example Margaret Benston (1972) argued that capitalism benefits from a large army of women – an unpaid workforce – who are compliant and willing to do as they’re told because women have been socialised to act this way and women rears future workers to think the same way.
She describes Stella-Rondo be inconsistent and unstable based on her being spoiled when they were children. Sister uses this immediately to make a point of her sister’s unappreciation for everything she has ever had. But she never describes how she behaved as a child which can be suggested that she may think the reader can assumed she was the better of the two. Then, she goes to say that out of nowhere Stella-Rondo leaves her husband and returns home with a two-year-old child whom she claims is adopted. Sister sees right through her sister’s façade considering the timing of everything.
Blanche then shows power and control over her sister to hide her exposed vulnerability by condescending Stella’s lifestyle and housing situation. This is shown in her explanations “Now, explain this place to me! What are you doing in a place like this?” Here this patronizing question emphasizes Blanches desperate need to gain power and feel more confortable in the situation. Blanche’s life is spiraling out of control and moving down the social scale, and the only place she still has power and control over is over her younger sister Stella. The concept of using ones vulnerabilities to another’s advantage to gain power is also show throughout