Tuesday 26 th January 9am Sports Hall

Marxism

 Blockbusters Blockbusters  Try to write a paragraph summarising the key aspects of the functionalist theory from last lesson.

WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON DIFFERENCES  Both view society as a structure  Society shapes the behaviour and ideas of individuals  Conflict of interests – Marxists reject the view that society if harmonious – see it as based on conflict of interests between social classes  Marxists don’t see society as stable and stress the possibility of sudden, revolutionary change.

  Like Durkheim, he saw the harm being done by industrial society and the promise of progress to a better world that is held.  Thought it was possible to understand society scientifically – scientific socialism

 Marx was not just a theorist, he was also a revolutionary socialist.  “Philosophers have merely interpreted the world; the point, however, is to change it.”  After his death, Marx’s ideas came to form the basis of communism – a political movement that was influential in shaping the modern world.

 Read through the section of text you are allocated  Write a twitter summary of that section 1) Historical materialism 2) Class society & exploitation 3) Capitalism 4) Class consciousness 5) Ideology 6) Alienation 7) The state, revolution & communism

Class  Simplistic view of inequality – only sees class as important  Feminists would argue gender more important source of inequality Economic determinism  The view that economic factors are the sole cause of everything in society – including social change  Fails to recognise that people have free will

 The absence of revolutions in the West has led many Marxists to reject the economic determinism of the base- superstructure model.  Instead, they have tried to answer 2 questions: Why capitalism has persisted How it might be overthrown.

 Humanistic or critical Marxism This has some similarities with action theories and interpretive sociology  Scientific or structuralist Marxism A structural approach, has similarities with positivist sociology.

Humanistic or critical Marxism Scientific or structuralist marxism Example: Antonio GramsciExample: Louis Althusser Draws on Marx’s early writings, where he focuses on alienation and people’s subjective experience of the world Draws on Marx’s later work, where he writes about the laws of capitalist development working with iron necessity towards inevitable results.

Humanistic or critical Marxism Scientific or structuralist marxism Example: Antonio GramsciExample: Louis Althusser Marxism is a political critique of capitalism as alienating and inhuman, and a call to overthrow it. Marxism is a science. It discovers the laws that govern the workings of capitalism.

Humanistic or critical Marxism Scientific or structuralist marxism Example: Antonio GramsciExample: Louis Althusser Voluntarism: humans have free will. They are active agents who make their own history. Their consciousness and ideas are central in changing the world Determinism: structural factors determine the course of history. Individuals are passive puppets – victims of ideology manipulated by forces beyond their control.

Humanistic or critical Marxism Scientific or structuralist marxism Example: Antonio GramsciExample: Louis Althusser Socialism will come about when people become conscious of the need to overthrow capitalism. Encourages political action, believing the time is always ripe for revolution. Socialism will come about only when the contradictions of capitalism ultimately bring about the system’s inevitable collapse. Tends to discourage political action.

 Read through the pages on Gramsci and those on Althusser.  Then prepare for the essay: Critically examine Marxist perspectives on today’s society. 33 marks

 The question carries 15 AO1 marks (knowledge and understanding) and 18 AO2 marks (interpretation, application, analysis and evaluation).  Begin your answer with an account of Marx’s key ideas. Make sure you include materialism, class conflict, alienation, exploitation, false consciousness, ideology, the state and revolution.  A good focus would be Marx’s theory of change, so explain how Marx sees capitalism being replaced by communism

 The question asks about Marxist perspectives  Look at developments since Marx.  Examine the 2 Marxisms – humanist and structuralist.  Outline their key concepts  You can contrast them in terms of their view of how change occurs.  You should also evaluate by assessing the strength of some of the criticisms of Marxism.

 Write the introduction/conclusion for this essay (5 mins)

From Revision Pack  Suicide 21 mark essay question – due Thursday  Power & control 21 mark essay question – due Friday Use the examiners advice from your text books to help you

 Tuesday Study Centre  Thursday lunch times – F5  Come and see me to make an appointment if you are not free at these times