Marxist Sociology

Marxist sociology is an approach of doing sociology that derives ideas about how to do it and how to analyse it from Karl Marx’ works. Marx was interested in the economic class’ politics, the relationship between capital and labour, the relationship between social life, culture, and the inequality, economy, economic exploitation and the connection between power and wealth, and the connection between progressive social change and critical consciousness. 

A lot of Marxist sociology has a lot in common with other types of sociology. These include conflict theory, global studies, cultural studies, critical theory, and the sociology of globalisation and consumption. Many people think Marxist sociology is a type of economic sociology. 

Marxist sociology covers the following topics

In Marxist sociology, everything is about the connections between the economy, society, and how people live their lives.

• People who study this type of thing often look at how class-based oppression is controlled by the political system and how it is passed down through education as a social institution, as well as how this oppression affects people’s lives
• There are many sociologists who study the way wages, work conditions , and workers rights change from one economy to the other (social versus capitalism, for instance), and how these things change as economic systems change and new technologies that affect the way we make things change
• Relationship between the economy and culture: Marx paid a lot of attention to how the economy and relationships of production were linked to culture, which he called the “base and superstructure.” He also looked at how the economy and culture were linked, which he called “the base and superstructure,” or the connections between the two. In today’s world, Marxist sociologists are still interested in how these things work together. They are also interested to know the way advanced global capitalism (and the mass consumerism along with it) affects people’s values and expectations, their identities, their relationships with other people, and their everyday lives
• It was a big part of Marx’s work and activism to figure out how to free the minds of the masses from the control of the capitalist system, and then to help people live more equal lives. There are a lot of people who study Marxist sociology who look at the way the economy and social norms and values affect how we think about ourselves and our place in the social structure compared to other people. You need to be able to think critically about these things in order to change unjust systems of oppression and power, Marxist sociologists agree with this

In the past, sociologists used Marxist sociology to look at class issues. Today, sociologists are also using the method to look at things like gender and race and sexuality, as well as other things.

The difference between Communism, Socialism, and capitalism

• There is no class system in communism, which means that everyone owns all their own property and wealth together. The ideas of Engels and Marx build the foundation for the communism theories and practices. The former China, Soviet Union, and Cuba, as well as many other countries, have had governments that were supposed to be communist. There has never been a truly communist country that didn’t have private property, money, or systems of classes
• Socialism was around for a long time before communism. Its early followers wanted more equal wealth distribution, workers’ solidarity, better conditions for working, and the common ownership of equipment for manufacturing and land. Socialism is based on the idea that the public owns the things that make things, but people can still own things. Socialist reform doesn’t come about because of a revolution of classes. Instead, it happens inside the existing social and political structures. Whether they’re technocratic, democratic, totalitarian, or oligarchic, these structures can be changed
• Socialism and communism oppose capitalism, which is an economic system based on private property ownership and a set of laws protecting the right to own or give away one’s personal property. In a capitalist economy, the means of production are owned by private individuals and businesses, who can resell them for a profit. A major goal of Communism and Socialism is the improvement of free-market capitalism’s flaws. Among these are worker abuse and disparities in wealth

Why is Marxist theory criticised?

• Many of Marx’s predictions haven’t come true, even though he had a lot of followers. Marx was of the opinion that more competitive rivalry would not result in consumers being able to purchase better products. As fewer and fewer people were left to control production, capitalists would go bankrupt, leading to the rise of monopolies
• Proletariat members who were once well-off but are now out of work would form an army of the unemployed. In addition, the market economy, which by its very nature is not planned, would have massive supply-and-demand problems, which would lead to severe depressions
• There was a lot of competition, but capitalism hasn’t broken down over time. With time, markets changed, but they haven’t led to a lot of monopolies. Wages have gone up and profits haven’t gone down, but economic inequality has got worse in many capitalist countries. And even though there have been depressions due to recessions, they aren’t thought to be a normal part of a free market. Indeed, there has never been a society without money, competition, or private property, and the history of the twentieth century suggests that it’s probably not a good idea to try to make it happen

Conclusion

Here are the key pointers of Marxist sociology:

• In Marxist sociology, everything is about the connections between the economy, society, and how people live their lives. Marx was interested in the politics of the economic class, the relationship between labour and capital, and culture and the economy
• Marxism looks at how class-based oppression is controlled by the political system. Marxist sociology looks at the way social norms and values affect how we think about ourselves. Socialist reform doesn’t come about because of a class revolution, it comes from analysing unjust systems of power and oppression
• Both communism and socialism don’t like capitalism, which is an economic system that has private ownership and laws protecting the right to own or give away private property. Marx thought that more competition would not lead to better goods for people to buy but would lead to bankruptcy and the rise of monopolies