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Flashcards in Marx - sociological theory Deck (18):

What are the three contradictions of capitalism that Marx pointed out?

- production and consumption
- boom and bust
- wealth and impoverishment


What did Marx foresee?

- rise of monopolies and corporations
- rise of global resource army of unemployed


What are the four forces of production?

1. raw materials
2. mechanisms
3. structures
4. labour itself


What is historical materialism?

looks at how humans have provided for material needs throughout history


What are the key features of the tribal/primitive mode of production?

- hunter gatherer
- simple divisions of labour
- no private property
- some gender divisions (hunter and child rearer)


What are the key features of ancient/classical mode of production?

- slave labour
- emergence of private property and state property
- ownership issues give way to class divisions
- rise of trade


What are the key features of the feudal mode of production?

- serfdom
- unequal ownership
- acute contradiction between land and city
- towns/cities exerting autonomy and trade


What are the key features of the capitalist mode of production?

- advances in technology
- large factories
- wage labour (hourly rate)
- advanced division os labour


Criticisms of historical materialism (4)

- technological determinism: is society really determined by technology?
- base/superstructure confusion
- Marx claims that capitalism is needed in order for socialism to arise, yet he also claims that some societies can skip the capitalist mode of production
- the proletariat created by capitalism would be responsible for its destruction


Outline Marx's views on God and alienation

- as humans become alienated, they project their power, agency and consciousness onto God
- religion legitimises inequality
- religion distracts people from the inequalities they face (opiate)
- people accept their subordination because they believe justice will come when they die (due to their belied in God)


Outline the four types of alienation under capitalism

1. alienation from the product
2. alienation from productive and creative fulfilment
3. alienation through social divisions
4. alienation from the essence of humanity


What is the function of a false ideology?

to conceal the class conflict and to make inequalities appear natural, legitimate and a far exchange


Criticisms of ideology (false ideology)

- base/superstructure confusion
- the proletariat don't suffer from a false consciousness, they know their poverty isn't fiction
- is the ideology lived by the proletariat or the bourgeoisie?


What is use value?

The use something has in satisfying life sustaining needs (e.g food, shelter, clothing)


What is exchange value?

A form of value that dominates capitalism. It refers to expressing the value of one commodity in terms of another (e.g exchanging one thing for another thing of equal value). Value reflects the labour costs that went into its production


What makes up the duel character of labour?

1. socially necessary labour time (useful labour)
2. surplus labour time (extra time worked, often the worker is producing more than they are getting paid for)


What is commodity fetishism?

When the real value of a commodity is hidden from the labourer


What is the law of over production?

Capitalism is always trying to overproduce things - production must extract more labour than it rewards