Flashcards
Neo-Marxism
Cards in this deck (19)
- 1Humanistic/critical Marxism, what are their main ideas?-Draws on Marx's earlier writing with a focus on alienation
-Believes that humans have free will and are active agents who make their own history
-Socialism will occur when people become conscious of the need to overthrow capitalism
-Encourages political action - 2What did Gramsci think of Marx ideas?Gramsci though Marx was mistaken in giving such an overriding importance to the economy and instead believed that the superstructure (family, education and religion) had relative autonomy.
- 3What is relative autonomy?This means that they are not completely dominated by the economy but are independent structures that have their own power over the working classes
- 4Gramsci came up with the concept of hegemony, which is what?Stating that the ruling class have dominance over all learn norms and values, which explained why the working class was not a major revolutionary force, and why capitalism worked so well
- 5The ruling class had cultural hegemony, which means?Their ideas and values dominated society, that allowed them to dominate the working classes i.e. the ruling class uses ideas and values to persuade subordinate classes that its rule is legitimate
- 6HOWEVER, the hegemony of the ruling class is never complete for two reasons:1. The ruling class are a minority - to rule they need to create a power bloc by making alliances with other groups such as the middle classes. This means they have to make compromises in the interest of their allies
2. The proletariat have dual consciousness - their ideas are influenced not only by the bourgeiose BUT also by the poverty and exploitation that they experience. This is means that they can see through the dominant ideology to some degree - 7What does this mean for the ruling class hegemony?There is always the possibility of the ruling-class hegemony to be undermined, particularly at times of economic crisis (i.e. increased poverty may cause the proletariat to question the status quo)
- 8For society to be fair there will need to be a group of 'organic intellectuals' that educates the ... (HINT - working class and cultural hegemony)... working classes to enable them to challenge the dominant cultural hegemony of the capitalist ruling class. The proletariat must develop their own 'counter-hegemony' offering a new vision of how society should be organised (based on socialist not capitalist values)
- 9EVALUATION OF GRAMSCI What is the strength of his ideas?Sociologists working within a Marxist framework have adopted a similar approach to Gramsci. They stress the role of ideas and conciousness as the basis for resisting domination by changing society. For example, Willis(1977) describes the working class lads he studied as 'partially penetrating' bourgeoisie ideology - seeing through the schools ideology to recognises meritocracy is a myth
- 10EVALUATION OF GRAMSCI Weaknesses of his ideas1. Classical Marxists would criticise Neo-Marxists for having a more 'social action' approach to society than being structuralist. These writers often draw on other perspectives such as interactionism that emphasises the role of ideas and meanings as the basis for action
2. He is accused for over-emphasising the role of ideas and under-emphasising the role of both state coercion and economic factors - 11Scientific/structural Marxism, what are their key ideas?-Draws on Marx's later work focusing on the laws of capitalist development
-Sees Marxism as a science
-Believes society is deterministic - structural factors determine the course of history. Individuals are passive puppets - victims of an ideology manipulated by forces out of their control
-Socialism will occur when the contradictions of capitalism bring about it collapse
-Tends to discourage political action - 12How did Althusser impact Marxist views?Althusser tried to create a more elaborate version of Marxism and argued that the structure of capitalist society is best though of as consisting of three levels.
- 13What are the 3 levels that Althusser talks about?1. Economic - all activities that involve producing something to satisfy need
2. Political (RSA) - all forms of organisations
3. Ideological (ISA) - all the ways in which people see themselves and their world - 14Each level interrelates and influences each other, no level is dominant. Each of these levels exists in a state of 'relative autonomy'. What does this mean?This means that the economy does not determine everything else in society as Classical Marxists would believe. The different levels are linked but all have a degree of freedom or autonomy. The political and ideological levels perform indispensable functions e.g. for capitalism to continue, future workers must be socialised, workers who would rebel must be punished and so on
- 15In Althusser's model, the state performs political and ideological functions that ensure the reproduction of capitalism. These are divided into two 'apparatuses':1.Repressive state apparatus (RSA) - the armed bodies of men (i.e. the police, army, prisons etc.) that coerce the working class into complying with the bourgeoisie
2. Ideological state apparatus (ISA) - institutions such as the media, education system, family etc. that manipulate the working class into accepting capitalism as legitimate - 16Althusser is critical of humanist Marxists (like Gramsci), what?He argues that our belief that we possess free will and choice is simply false consciousness produced by the ideological state apparatus e.g. education and the myth of meritocracy. Therefore socialism will come about because of a crisis of capitalism and NOT because of a change in consciousness
- 17EVALUATION OF ALTHUSSER Strengths of his ideasIn Craib's view, he offers the most sophisticated concept of social structure available in the social sciences
- 18EVALUATION OF ALTHUSSER Weaknesses of his ideas1. Although he rejects economic determinism, he simply replaces it with a more complex 'structural determinism' in which everything is determined by the three structures and their interrelationships, therefore still suggesting no human free wil
2. Ironically, which he believed he was developing a scientific analysis of society to help bring about progress to a better society, his structuralist Marxism has been a major influence on theories such as postmodernism that reject the very ideas that scientific knowledge can be used to improve society - 19CONCLUSION... (HINT - talk about what postmodernists say)... Although Marxism/Neo-Marxism 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 Marxist/Neo-Marxist 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
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- A-level Sociology (Paper 1 and 3 - Research Methods and Theory) Flashcards on Neo-Marxism, created by Catherine Rayner on 03/03/2018.
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- Catherine Rayner
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