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Historical/Classical Marxism
Marx // Engels
The Communist Manifesto
Capitalism exploits the working class! – not a fan
In his work he discusses the revolution which will overthrow cap and create communism.
LC: proletariat
UC: bourgeoisie
BASE (WORKERS) AND SUPERSTRUCTURE (STRUCTURES) - Maintain and legitimise each other
Differences between capitalism and communism/past times
C1 -> M -> C2
Product -> sell the product for it’s worth -> another product
These products are NEEDS not WANTS
Not about profit!
M1 -> C -> M2
Money -> commodity -> for more money
a) M1 refers to the owners who own the means of production
b) Make a commodity at a low cost and sell it at a high value
c) Surplus value (difference between the cost to make vs. the cost to sell)
iPhone - 14 pro costs £372 to make – sells for £1,099 - £727 PROFIT PER IPHONE SOLD (195% INC)
$2.76 to $2.90 per hour for a factory worker in China
Why do the workers continue working?
1. False Class Consciousness – we are not aware of our exploitation – little incentive to the workers to make them feel valued and that they are benefiting
2. Alienation – you feel detached from your work, lack of investment and no personal attachment
A) Product, B) Others (staff rooms and how uninviting they are), C) Society, D) yourself
3. Commodity Fetishism – we want new products and the only way to get them is to work! Capitalism is so good at selling us what we don’t need
Adorno – culture industry selling us what we do not need
Polarisation – Marx believes that all of this creates a polarised class system where the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer
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Crime and Deviance
Gordon – Dog eat Dog nature of capitalist society – competition – CRIMINOGENIC society (crime is inevitable and expected in a capitalist society)
Durkheim – crime is inevitable in society, but it is also beneficial and necessary -> but Marxism would argue NOT beneficial as it is often the lower classes that receive punishment
Sayer – laws created in a capitalist society are designed to keep the rich out of prison, therefore they are more likely to get away with crimes than the lower class
Too Posh to Pay – Fiona Mont – went on the run and was in prison for a week in Spain before being freed (£1million fraud)
Snider – selective law creation and the UC create the laws therefore know the flaws and clauses to get out of trouble (link back to Gordon)
Pearce – how often laws that are seen to benefit the lower classes benefit the upper classes
Box – upper classes will prevent laws from being made that don’t help them!
- Afford to pay fines
- Afford fancy lawyers
- Often have friends in high places
- Influential (big business owners) – Murdoch and Blair
Engels – inheritance (nuclear family emerged to protect wealth and ensure it remains in the family)
Chambliss – property owners have the most power, property ownership is the cornerstone of society
Graham – War on Drugs – war on lower class drugs, focus in on low level dealing rather than drug king-pins – benefiting the big companies and powerful people over the ‘little people’
Case Studies:
Bernie Madoff
Caitlyn Jenner
Prince Andrew
Boris Johnson
Jimmy Carr
Epstein
Weinstein
Bhopal Disaster
Structural Marxism
Althusser
He believes that humans will not end capitalism but rather structures themselves needs to collapse
Three levels to our society
1. Economic
2. Political
3. Ideology
All work together to maintain and legitimise capitalism
1. Ideological State Apparatus(hegemonic ideals of the ruling class – through education, media, CJS)
2. Repressive State Apparatus (force – police and armies)
Crime and Deviance
CONFLICT (Marxism, Feminism) VS. CONSENSUS (Functionalism) POLICING
Consensus policing – with harmony, fairness and equality – going into the profession for the right reasons
Conflict Policing – Coronation – protesters were stopped before they even reached their destination // East London – two dogs shot dead by police in ‘tense stand off’
Going into the profession for the wrong reasons, dealing with people with aggression and assumptions of guilt/wrongdoing
- Idea of selective law enforcement (looking the other way for some and targeting others)
Neo-Marxism
Gramsci
Neo Marxism is the love child of symbolic interactionism and Marxism
- HUMANSTIC
- Focuses on humans more than structures or systems
Humans will overthrow capitalism (like Marx’s ideas)
BUT
It must be someone from within the group that begins the ‘revolution’ – power of experience, lived experience ORGANIC INTELLECTUALS – Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Greta Thunberg
Hegemony – dominance of the upper classes
Counter hegemony – when the working classes adopt alternative culture, style and lifestyle choices and essentially then label them as working class!
Nike Identities (Archer)
Dual class consciousness – where the WC are aware of their exploitation and lower position in society but they make it work for them!
Crime and Deviance
Taylor et al
Crime is voluntaristic and not deterministic, it is a personal choice that individuals make based on their situation
1.The wider origins of the deviant act in the unequal distribution of wealth and power in capitalist society.
2.The immediate origins of the deviant act- the particular contextin which the individual decides to commit the act.
3.The act itself and its meaning for the actor- e.g. was it a form of rebellion against capitalism?
4.The immediate origins of social reaction- the reactions of those around the deviant e.g. police and community, to discovering the deviance.
5.The wider origins of social reaction in the structure of capitalist society- especially the issue of who has the power to define actions as deviant and why some acts are treated more harshly than others.
6.The effect of labelling on the deviant’s future actions- e.g. why does labelling lead to deviance amplification in some cases but not others?
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