Category: Marxism
-
P and O’s Sacking of 800 Workers – Broad Support for the Marxist Perspective on Globalisation?
P and O Ferries recently sacked 800 UK workers by video conference call. Workers were literally told in a video call from the boss of P and O, lasting less than 5 minutes and with no prior warning, that their employment was being terminated with immediate effect. You can watch the boss of P and…
-
Sociological Perspectives on the Royal Wedding
Just a few thoughts on how you might apply Functionalism and Marxism to the Royal Wedding! Functionalists might interpret the wedding as one of those symbolic events which brings people together – enhancing a sense of national identity, and possibly social solidarity. You certainly get this impression from Sky News’ Live Stream which is already in full…
-
Rich House, Poor House – Spreading the Myth of Meritocracy
In this Channel 5 series, one family in the ‘wealthiest 10%’ of Britain swap lives for a week with a family in the ‘poorest 10% of Britain’. As I see it this programme performs an ‘ideological control function’ – spreading the myth of meritocracy. They two families swap houses, budgets and leisure-timetables for a week…
-
What is the difference between Functionalism and Marxism
Functionalists have a very general analysis of the role of education in society, simply looking at how it contributes to the maintenance of social order, whereas Marxists analyse the role of education by focusing on how it performs different functions for different social classes. As I see it, Marxists offer a ‘deeper layer’ of analysis…
-
The Capitalist Mode of Production
Understanding the Capitalist Mode of Production is crucial to an understanding of both Modernisation Theory and Dependency Theory – I thought the passage below did a nice job of summarizing what the ‘capitalist mode of production’ is. A a special treat for my American readers, I have used the correct, British spelling of ‘labour’. ‘Today…
-
What is Alienation?
Capitalist production alienates workers from their products, their labour power, themselves and their own souls.
-
The Illusion of the Equality of Opportunity
Marxist sociologists Bowles and Gintis argue that capitalist societies are not meritocratic. Against Functionalists, they argue that it is not the amount of ability and effort an individual puts into their education that determines how well they do, but rather their class background. The simple reality is that being born into a middle class family…
-
Goldman Sachs Worried About Rising Wages….
In this recent post ‘ America is getting a raise and Goldman Sachs is freaking out about it ‘ Nick Casella cites an extract from investment bank Goldman Sachs’ daily newsletter ‘ Global Markets Daily’ which indicates that they think rising wages in America will be bad for corporate profits. “Wages are rising. The ‘wage tracker’…
-
Bowles and Gintis: The Correspondence Principle
School corresponds to work: both are hierarchical, both require passive pupils/ workers and both are motivated by external rewards.
-
Why workers aren’t benefiting from the automation of jobs…
The increasing automation of jobs could (should?) result in us all working less – but instead, most of us seem to working just as longer hours as ever, why is this – a little dose of Marxism actually goes a long way to explaining this… What’s below is taken from the LSE blog (Jan 2015),…
