Q3. Two effects of ideology on the working class according to Marxists are that it, firstly, socialises them to believe that their position in life is deserved and, secondly, disguises their exploitation by the capitalist class. These effects mean that most working class people are not aware of their ‘real’ identity as exploited and oppressed workers. Marxists describe this as false class-consciousness. This prevents the working class from challenging capitalism because the ruling class control all the cultural institutions that are responsible for socialising them.
Louis Althusser (1971) argued that the function of these cultural institutions is to maintain and legitimate this class inequality. The cultural institutions, such as advertising, encourage the working class to passively accept inequality by making them see their lives satisfied by the fulfilment of false needs through acquiring consumer items. The working class are persuaded to accept their lot and may even be convinced that capitalism had provided them with a decent standard of living.
Marxists argue that capitalist ideology shapes the way of life of a society. For example the way the mass media convince people that their priority should be to buy more material goods. Individuals then want to be rich so that they can buy more and more and this will make them happy. This could fuel deviant acts such as crime. Furthermore, while they are watching television or reading about celebrities, they are not noticing the exploitation of the capitalist system.
Q4. The Marxist view that individuals are the products of the class relationships that characterise economic life has been accused of ignoring the freedom of choice individuals have. People decide what to do and believe- they are not ‘brainwashed’ by ideology. In this sense, Marxism may present an ‘over-socialised’ image of human beings. However, this criticism is not true of all Marxists. Some have argued that oppositional subcultures can exist within the capitalist system. For example, Hall and Jefferson (1976) argued that youth subcultures are often a means by which young people can express dissatisfaction with the capitalist system. They argued that the value systems, dress codes, musical tastes and behaviour of groups such as the skinheads, mods and punks are a form of symbolic and temporary resistance to society. The opposition is representational in that behaviour often shocks society, but provisional in that they eventually develop into passive adults.
Marxism may put too much emphasis on conflict. After all, regardless of all its inequalities, capitalism has managed to improve most people’s standard of living. Perhaps Marxism also ignores common interests that employers and workers have. If workers work well then the business does well and employers can afford to increase their wages.
Marxism in general has been criticised for claiming that every cultural activity is geared to class interests. Subsequently Marxists disregard the fact that culture could reflect religious, patriarchal, nationalistic and ethnic interests.
Despite criticisms, the Marxism theory has raised a lot of valid points about the ruling class and how they control society and evidence has been found to back up these points. For example it is true that owners of newspapers in the UK is concentrated in the hands of six owners. Some of these control global transnationals who monopolise a range of different media, such as television and film.
