Marxists view the family as maintaining capitalism in two key ways: through ideological reproduction, where the family passes capitalist values to children, and physical reproduction, where the family rears the next generation of workers cheaply for capitalists. Marx's collaborator Engels argued that the family emerged with private property, as males ensured their property was passed to legitimate heirs by enforcing women's sexual fidelity through marriage. However, the Marxist perspective has also been criticized for failing to fully analyze the oppression of women in families and for being too negative about the family without acknowledging benefits to family members.
Marxists view the family as maintaining capitalism in two key ways: through ideological reproduction, where the family passes capitalist values to children, and physical reproduction, where the family rears the next generation of workers cheaply for capitalists. Marx's collaborator Engels argued that the family emerged with private property, as males ensured their property was passed to legitimate heirs by enforcing women's sexual fidelity through marriage. However, the Marxist perspective has also been criticized for failing to fully analyze the oppression of women in families and for being too negative about the family without acknowledging benefits to family members.
Marxists view the family as maintaining capitalism in two key ways: through ideological reproduction, where the family passes capitalist values to children, and physical reproduction, where the family rears the next generation of workers cheaply for capitalists. Marx's collaborator Engels argued that the family emerged with private property, as males ensured their property was passed to legitimate heirs by enforcing women's sexual fidelity through marriage. However, the Marxist perspective has also been criticized for failing to fully analyze the oppression of women in families and for being too negative about the family without acknowledging benefits to family members.
Marxists share with the functionalists the idea that they
examine the roles performed by the family in the maintenance of capitalist society. The big difference is that Marxists are opposed to capitalism as they see it as unfair and exploitative. Engels The first Marxist write to comment on the family and its functions was Marx's friend and collaborator Frederick Engels in "The rigin of !rivate !roperty and the "tate." Engels argued that the family emerged with the advent of private ownership. The family and the marriage represents mens' early attempts to ensure that they could pass on their property to legitimate heirs. #y ensuring sexual fidelity of the female through marriage the male was able to ensure that his children were actually his. Maintenance of $apitalism Marxists also argue that the family maintains and continues capitalism in the following ways %. &deological reproduction ' the family is an important agent of socialisation in the passing on the "values" of the capitalist system. For example( discipline( hard work( obedience( respect for authority are all passed onto children with the mother usually being the central figure in this transmission. ). !hysical *eproduction ' The family rears the next generation of workers. This is very cheap for the capitalist class( as they do not have to near the costs of reproduction of the labour force. ne family wage maintains the whole family. Criticisms of the Marxist perspective %. &t fails to analyse at any length the oppression of women in families. ). &t is entirely negative about the family and does not give any of the positive benefits of the family to family members.