...one examines capitalist Marxism, one is faced with a choice: either accept cultural narrative or conclude that discourse is created by the masses. Therefore, Baudrillard uses the term ‘textual dematerialism’ to denote not theory, but neotheory. Marx’s essay on capitalist Marxism states that art is capable of significance, but only if subdialectic structuralist theory is valid; otherwise, Sontag’s model of Lacanist obscurity is one of “postmaterial semanticist theory”, and therefore part of the futility of consciousness. Thus, the example of cultural narrative which is a central theme of Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is also evident in Four Rooms. The main theme of Humphrey’s[2] critique of Lacanist obscurity is a mythopoetical paradox. Therefore, the subject is interpolated into a capitalist Marxism that includes truth as a totality. Porter[3] implies that we have to choose between subcapitalist capitalism and Batailleist `powerful communication’. However, the characteristic theme of the works of Rushdie is the common ground between reality and sexual identity. The subject is contextualised into a cultural narrative that includes truth as a paradox. In the works of Rushdie, a predominant concept is the concept of structural art. It could be said that if neoconstructivist theory holds, the works of Rushdie are an example of subdialectic Marxism. Marx uses the term ‘capitalist Marxism’ to denote a self-referential reality. But the premise of cultural narrative suggests that...
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...Assess the sociological explanations for ethnic inequality in contemporary society? (40 mark) Point: Marxism * Minority groups form part of a uniformed working class not against it. They work for the bourgeoisie. * Castles and Kosack argued that ethnic minority groups could also be part of * ‘reserve army of labour’– supporting capitalist system and forced to take lower paid jobs than their white counter parts. * Economic system created by racism (Cox) by creating a divide, the working class less likely to have a revolt as they haven’t developed class consciousness they blamed the ethnic minorities. Ideological state apparatus (Althusser) used by the upper class to force cultural reproduction and protect their income Negative effect on family life, woman becomes ‘psychological outlet’ (Zaretsky, 1976) for the man’s troubles and work Critique: Marxism Durkheim would support ethnic minorities working for bourgeoisie as it ‘functionally fits’ society, they have the workforce that they need and there is a consensus in society regarding how it should operate. When analysing the Marxist views the value attached to the ‘reserve army of labour’ needs to be addressed. * Not always negative they do have a job! * Breadwinner/instrumental role (Parsons, 1955) being fulfilled, this is positive for the functioning of society. It is also unfair to suggest that we live in a ‘racist’ society, laws to protect workers ‘anti discrimination act’ 1975, race relations...
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...like slavery and feudalism. Hence, he constructed his own model, the Marxist model of class conflict to explain negative circumstances that existed in his time. The main features of Marxism include class conflict, surplus value extraction, false consciousness, revolution and by extension communism. The features of the Marxist model are all applicable to Caribbean society, however due to significant changes in society, they are not relevant to the extent that Karl Marx witnessed. The communist manifesto of 1848 declared that the history of all existing society hitherto is the history of class conflict i.e. oppressor and oppressed. According to Marx, this was reflected by the Bourgeosie as the oppressor and the Proletariat as the oppressed, this statement can be applied to society during the period of Colonization which implanted a Plantation Society which exploited the Indigenous people, West Africans, Indians, Chinese and Madeirans. The methods of class exploitation were visible through the Encomienda, Enslavement and Indentureship. In a Post-Colonial society, class conflict still exists however, it is not to the extent that Marx argued occurred in his time. There are class conflict issues that arise in the Caribbean due to lack of protection for labour and worker rights but many critics of Marxism disagree with Marx. They argue that the Marxist model cannot be applied to Caribbean society as now there has been an expansion in the social pyramid, which...
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...Using material from item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of sub cultural theories in explaining “sub cultural crime and deviance” in society. Functionalist sociologists adopt a normative definition to explain crime and deviance. They categorise it as something which breaks off from or violates social norms. This means that there is an assumption that society is based on value consensus and thus laws reflect the interests and views of the majority of the population. On the other hand critical criminology such as Marxism would use the relativistic definition to define crime and thus support the notion that the law reflects the interests of the ruling class instead. One sub cultural theory which is useful in explaining sub cultural crime and deviance is Merton’s strain theory. He argued that in society, certain members may experience a strain between the cultural goals of society for example the American dream and the legitimate means to achieve these goals. Deviance results from the structure of society and reaching these goals depends on an individual’s social mobility. In a stratified society goals are inevitably linked to a person’s position in the social structure. As a result, when some members are unable to achieve goals they become disenchanted and may seek out alternative ways. Merton argued that capitalist societies suffer from anomie - a strain/conflict between the goals set by society and the legitimate (law abiding) means of achieving them. However, Merton...
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...which explained that each part of society played a vital role in making the body of society work coherently, for example the education system may represent the brain as it is this which teaches us not only what to think but how to think. Marxism is comparable in the way that it is also a structural theory and that society controls us all via social control and sanctions however Marxism focuses on the brainwashing of the proletariat by the media, so that we are indoctrinated into believing what society wants us think and also the control of social inequality so that society maintains itself and the relations of production continue. Louis Althusser, a Marxist developed the idea of “ideological state apparatus”, this idea that the ideological state apparatuses, such as churches, schools, family, media and such reinforce the rule of bourgeoisie over the proletariat primarily through ideology in form of norms and values. This demonstrates the view that we are controlled by society as it teaches us and forces it's norms and values on us in order for us to conform to the group, although this is a Marxist point it also is identical to the Functionalist perspective. Many Functionalists believe that there are four main aims of society; Adaption, goal attainment, integration and latency, this idea came from a functionalist named TalcottParsons. He called this Structural Marxism. Parsons saw that society evolve over time and worked his theory around this, adaption is how we change to meet...
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...why did Marxist communism fail? From a Christian point of view, Marxism failed because of its atheistic qualities. Marx forbade and dismissed the practice of religion. Instead of allowing common religious beliefs to be incorporated or flow freely into Marxism, governments chose to censor religious practices, which of course brought about resistance from the people. This is one of the main reasons Marxism did not fair too well or even last. 2. Which is a more Christian form of government, democratic capitalism or democratic socialism? Democratic Socialism of late has been the more favored form of government. Democratic Socialism stands by the poor and does not blame them for their situation. Its goal is to protect the working class and weaken the power of large corporations. It aims to decrease the influence money has in politics, empower people to contribute to the economy, and have equal gender and cultural relationships. This views work better with the Christian perspective. 3. What functions does government have to undertake because of fallen human nature? Because of fallen human nature, government has to step in and take it upon themselves to enforce certain rule/laws for the protection of its citizens and land as a precaution to ensure safety and protect the earth God gave us. Because man has a sinful nature, we need laws to ensure the economic growth of our country. We can use the example of discrimination. Unfortunately, there are many forms of discrimination...
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...M Antonio Gramsci One of the most influential figures in the neo-Marxist reassessment of religion is the Italian, Antonio Gramsci. He rejected the traditional Marxist view that the cultural superstructure merely reflected society’s economic base. In his view, the superstructure is more autonomous and independent than Marx acknowledged, and beliefs are no less real or important than economic forces. For Gramsci, if the communist age were to come, it would require working-class action. But this action must be guided by theoretical ideas. And, just as intellectuals of the Roman Catholic Church had shaped the minds of its followers over centuries, so must the industrial working class produce its own intellectuals who can articulate working-class experience and help shape working-class consciousness. Gramsci was well aware of the control over consciousness, which the Catholic Church had traditionally exercised over its members. This control he referred to as hegemony. He was highly critical of what he regarded as the Church’s characteristic subservience to the state and ruling-class interests. Nevertheless, he did not assume that religion must inevitably play such a role. He argued that, at different historical times, popular forms of religion had emerged which expressed and supported the interests of oppressed classes. Thus, he accepted the possibility that religious beliefs and practices could develop and be popularised, particularly by working-class intellectuals, to challenge...
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...title for my first lecture which filled me with ease as I then became aware that I probably wasn’t meant to start university knowing exactly what public relations stood for. As the lecture went on it became apparent that actually defining Public Relations is a very difficult task and that there are many definitions, however a main word that comes up again and again when describing public relations is ‘communicating’. Entry 2 Week 2 I have had my first lecture on the module ‘Media and Cultural Landscapes’ finding it challenging and difficult to get my head around but on the other hand extremely interesting. Marxism was a critical theory that we talked about very briefly and as I don’t know a lot about Marxism I wrote down that I needed to research into this to have a better understanding of what it means to Public Relations. My research led me to find the time in which Marxist ideology developed and I was able to get to grips with the current state of affairs that America was in, for example, they still had slaves and women didn’t have the right to vote anywhere. From looking at the...
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...Marxist literary criticism has, as the name indicates, its basis in the theories of Karl Marx and his associates. The main idea of Marxism is that “instead of making abstract affirmations about a whole group of problems such as man, knowledge, matter, and nature, he examines each problem in its dynamic relation to the others and, above all, tries to relate them to historical, social, political, and economic realities” (BO). Marx argued that the real foundation of society was the economic structure, that political and legal superstructures rose from this base, and that “[i]t is not the consciousness of men which determines their existence; it is on the contrary their social existence which determines their consciousness” (BO). The most fundamental argument of Marxist literary and cultural theories is that they do not see art as something that is separate from society – art is, as Eagleton says, “part of the ‘superstructure’ of society” (5) – and the central concern of Marxist literary criticism is the relationship between the economy and the literature. Marxist critics argue that art is social because it is produced and received in concrete contexts, and because the creator is someone with a class, gender and racial identity – the author is, unavoidably, “part of her own context” (Haslett 8). Art, in Marxist readings, “is interpreted as a material practice, perhaps because it relies on ‘technology’… is concretely realised in situations which themselves are material… ...
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...Religion is one of the oldest institutions on Earth, and is therefore of key cultural and historical importance to a large group of people. However the real question is whether religion serves to benefit both the individual and society in this ever evolving postmodern world. One perspective that suggests that religion does serve to benefit both the individual and society as a whole is Functionalism, which believes that religion maintains value consensus by creating social solidarity and keeping social order in place. Marxism however believes religion creates class division in society, by acting as an “opium of the people” and a “spiritual gin”, which in turn creates the false class consciousness and illusory happiness, which leads to people being subordinate and not challenging their place in society, as religion helps to explain their place and maintains social order. A core argument from the Functionalist perspective, put forward by Durkheim, was society’s distinction between the “sacred” (things set apart,special,inspire feelings of awe and wonder) and the “profane” (things that have no special significance,ordinary or mundane). Durkheim argued that the reason why scared symbols or festivals in religion evoke such powerful feelings in individuals is because they represent a greater power, this in Durkheim’s opinion could only be society itself. Therefore in Durkheim's view when members of society are worshipping sacred symbols, they’re merely worshipping society and all...
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...Psychoanalysis of characters When people think of psychoanalysis, usually one name comes to mind. This would be Sigmund Freud. Freud, along with Carl G. Jung and Alfred Adler, has impacted the history of psychoanalysis. Further, he has influenced the lives of the men and women during the early 1900s. In critical theory today: a user friendly guide, Tyson explains the critical theories of psychoanalysis and Marxism. It’s all about the studies of human behaviors for example, human mind, especially inner experiences, thoughts, feelings, emotions, fantasies, and dreams. I have chosen one book and a movie. In a book, it talks about James, who is a main character of the story. He was really confused about his identity because he was a black and his mother was a white. In a movies, they showed the racism and differences create between students in their childhood. Both of these based on true stories. I would compare these character with Marxism and Freud’s theory. A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother is the autobiography of James McBride. It is also a tribute to his mother. It starts of the narrator James’s mother Ruth, who describes her early life with her family. She was born in Polish Orthodox Jewish family that was immigrant to United States. She had a repressed childhood in Virginia. She was sexually abused as a child from her father. In critical theory today: a user friendly guide, Tyson defines Fear of abandonment—“the unshakable belief that our friends and loved ones...
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...How Far Is Religion a Conservative Force? (33 marks). In the views of functionalism, neo-functionalism, feminism, and Marxism, religion is a conservative force that prevents social change from happening and maintains the current status quo. Yet neo-Marxism and Weber contrast this view by saying religion is used as a force for social change, while post-modernism argues we have the ability to ‘pick and mix’ our religion with the growth of new-age religions. This is all then contrasted by fundamentalism, which looks to bring about social change to take society back to biblical traditions and values. Before we try and figure out if religion is a conservative force or not, we should first define the difference between substantive and functional definitions in sociology: substantive definitions are more concerned with looking at what makes religion distinctive, while functional definitions look at how it is that religion contributes to society as a whole. Starting with functionalism, this is supported by Durkheim, Malinowski and Parsons, this views religion as a conservative force. Durkheim split all items into two different categories: the sacred and the profane. The sacred items were ‘special, unworldly and forbidden’, while all other ‘normal’ objects were just profane, such as a chair. Specifically, Durkheim focused his research on the Aborigines. He found that their Totems were sacred (a Totem was a carved animal), and they were often carved from bull roar wood, the most sacred...
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...organization and institutions. There are seven sociology approaches to describe the human behaviour: * Functionalism * Marxism * Feminism * Interactionism * Postmodernism * The New Right * Collectivism 1 – Functionalism The Functionalism perspective is based largely on the work of Herbert Spencer, Emilie Durkheim, Talcott Parsons and Robert Mertoni. According to Functionalism, society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole. (www.laulina.hawaii.edu) The Functionalism sees social structure or the organization of society as more important than the individual. Because society is based on agreed norms and values Talcott theory’s said that individuals are born into society and become the product of all the social influences around them as they are socialised by various institutions such as the family, education, media and religion. To live in a society or organization it is important to have values and live on agreed norms, because will give us necessary structure to build these values and fallow these norms. The social consensus, order and integration are key beliefs of functionalism as this allows society to continuo and progress because there are shared norms and values and shows that all individuals have common goal. An example of social consensus is family, because they share norms and values that each member can have better interaction between each other...
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...of reality. Sociological theories can be grouped together according to a variety of criteria. The most important of these is the distinction between Structural and Social action theories. Structural or macro perspectives analyses the way society as a whole fits together. Structural theory sees society as a system of relationships that creates the structure of the society in which we live. It is this structure that determines our lives and characters. Structured sets of social relationships are the 'reality' that lie below the appearance of 'the free individual' of western individualism. Structuralism focuses on the particular set of 'structural laws' that apply in any one society. Despite their differences, both functionalism and Marxism use a model of how society as a whole works. Many functionalists base their model of society around the assumption of basic needs and go to explain how different parts of society help to meet those needs. Marxists, on the other hand, see society as resting upon an economic base or infrastructure, with a superstructure above it. They see society as divided into social classes which have the potential to be in conflict with each other. However, the main differences between functionalist and Marxist perspectives then, is the way they characterize the social structure. Functionalists stress the extent to which the different elements of the social structure fit together harmoniously. Marxists stress the lack of fit between the different...
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...Task 1 As social workers we live and work in very large complex and ever changing society therefore it may be very important as a social worker to know what social class her client, family or community belongs to, as this gives the social worker insight into how to intervene. Social class can be defined in a number of ways but the one that’s widely adapted by social workers is that social class is a large group of people whose economic circumstances, usually measured by their incomes, wealth and occupation, are broadly similar. There are three major social classes in the United Kingdom which include; the working class, middle class and the upper class. Socialists emphasize that social class is essentially an economic concept and they determine individual’s class on the basis of wealth income and occupation. However it is also important to say that there are other factors to consider when determining a person’s social class such as; their family social background, standard of living, home ownership, leisure pursuits, circle of friends and social connections and education. Broadly speaking most of the factors listed above are closely connected with one’s wealth, income and occupation. One may define Identity as who or what a person or thing is. Identity also helps to define who a person is; it is a self representation of a person’s interests, relationships and leisure activities. On the other hand belonging can mean to feel a sense of welcome and acceptance to someone or some...
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