Marxist Theory

Examples of Marxist Theory in the following topics:

• Marx's View of Class Differentiation

  • In the Marxist perspective, social stratification is created by unequal property relations, or unequal access to the means of production.
  • Marxist inequality is exemplified by the relationship between a factory owner and factory employee—a factory owner is concerned only with financial profits and earns material wealth, while the assembly line employee is concerned with the conditions of production and is unlikely to accumulate material wealth.
  • In Marxist theory, the capitalist mode of production consists of two main economic parts: the substructure and the Superstructure.
  • These relations of production—employer-employee relations, the technical division of labor, and property relations—form the base of society or, in Marxist terms, the substructure.

• Functions of the State

  • Most political theories of the state can roughly be classified into two categories.
  • Theories of this variety view the state as a neutral entity distinct from both society and the economy.
  • Marxist theory, on the other hand, sees politics as intimately intermingled with economic relations, and emphasizes the relationship between economic power and political power.
  • Marxists view the state as a partisan instrument that primarily serves the interests of the upper class.
  • Classify the different political theories concerning the function of the state in society

• Religion and Social Control

  • From a Marxist perspective, these expectations become part of religion's ability to control society and maintain the status quo.

• Class

  • Common models used to think about social class come from Marxist theory: common stratum theory, which divides society into the upper, middle, and working class; and structural-functionalism.
  • In Marxist theory, the class structure of the capitalist mode of production is characterized by two main classes: the bourgeoisie, or the capitalists who own the means of production, and the much larger proletariat (or working class) who must sell their own labor power for wages.
  • For Marxists, class antagonism is rooted in the situation that control over social production necessarily entails control over the class which produces goods—in capitalism this is the domination and exploitation of workers by owners of capital.
  • He noted that contrary to Marx's theories, stratification was based on more than simply ownership of capital.
  • Weber introduced three independent factors that form his theory of stratification hierarchy: class, status, and power: class is person's economic position in a society; status is a person's prestige, social honor, or popularity in a society; power is a person's ability to get his way despite the resistance of others.

• Weber's View of Stratification

  • Instead, he developed the three-component theory of stratification and the concept of life chances.
  • Weber supposed there were more class divisions than Marx suggested, taking different concepts from both functionalist and Marxist theories to create his own system.
  • Weber's theory more closely resembles theories of modern Western class structures embraced by sociologists, although economic status does not seem to depend strictly on earnings in the way Weber envisioned.
  • Using Weber's theory of stratification, members of the U.S.
  • Recall the three components of stratification in Weberian theory, including their definitions

• Theory and Practice

  • Putnam's theory proposes:
  • In short, Putnam's theory clearly encapsulates the key ideas of a sociological theory.
  • Sociologists often work from an already existing theory, and seek to test that theory in new situations.
  • When working from theory, sociological observation runs the risk of being directed by that theory.
  • For example, if one is working from the perspective of a Marxist conflict theory, one might tend to interpret everything as a manifestation of bourgeoisie domination, from the patterns of seating at a school cafeteria to presidential election results.

• Colonialism and Neocolonialism

  • One approach sociologists take to colonialism and neocolonialism is a Marxist perspective.
  • According to some Marxist historians, in all of the colonial countries ruled by Western European countries, indigenous people were robbed of health and opportunities.
  • From a Marxist perspective, colonies are considered vis-à-vis modes of production.
  • Dependency theory builds upon Marxist thought, blaming colonialism and neocolonialism for poverty within the world system.
  • Differentiate between dependency theory, world-systems theory, and the Marxist perspective on colonialism

• The Conflict Perspective

  • Conflict theory suggests that men, as the dominant gender, subordinate women in order to maintain power and privilege in society.
  • According to conflict theory, society is defined by a struggle for dominance among social groups that compete for scarce resources.
  • In the context of gender, conflict theory argues that gender is best understood as men attempting to maintain power and privilege to the detriment of women.
  • According to conflict theory, social problems are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups.
  • Friedrich Engels, a German sociologist, studied family structure and gender roles from a Marxist perspective.

• Evaluating Global Theories of Inequality

  • Marxists, by contrast, see global inequality as indicative of exploitation and consider it a detriment to society.
  • Whatever sociological theory one adopts to explain the existence of inequality, not all theorists consider inequality to be a problem that needs correction.
  • Differentiate between the positions on social inequality taken by functionalists, Marxists, modern liberalism, and social justice advocates

• Types of Governments

  • In political theory, democracy describes a small number of related forms of government and also a political philosophy.
  • While almost all claim lineage to Marxist thought, there are many varieties of Communist states, with indigenous adaptions.
  • For Marxist-Leninists, the state and the Communist Party claim to act in accordance with the wishes of the industrial working class; for Maoists, the state and party claim to act in accordance to the peasantry.
  • Map of countries that declared themselves or were declared to be socialist states under the Marxist-Leninist or Maoist definition at some point in their history.
  • Note that not all of these countries were Marxist-Leninist or Maoist at the same time.