Gender inequality clearly preceded CapitalismвЂ¦. Thus the nuclear family benefits the Bourgeois more than the proletariat.

Ultimately what this arrangement does is to reproduce inequality вЂ“ The children of the rich grow up into wealth, while the children of the poor remain poor. It is the best way of guaranteeing that you are passing on your property to your son, because in a monogamous relationship you have a clear idea of who your own children are. In such societies, property was collectively owned, and the family structure reflected this вЂ“ there were no families as such, but tribal groups existed in a kind of вЂpromiscuous hordeвЂ™ in which there were no restrictions on sexual relationships.Д®ventually the Bourgeois started to look for ways to pass on their wealth to the next generation, rather than having it shared out amongst the masses, and this is where the monogamous nuclear family comes from. Before Capitalism, traditional, tribal societies were classless and they practised a form of вЂprimitive communismвЂ™ in which there was no private property. Explaining the emergence of the nuclear family вЂ“ EngelsДЄccording to Engels, the monogamous nuclear family only emerged with Capitalism. Something else Marxists suggest about the family (like the Functional Fit theory) is that the family type generally changes with society вЂ“ more specifically, the nuclear family emerges not because of the needs of industrialisation, but because of the needs of the capitalist system. However, this conflict of interests rarely boils over into revolution because institutions such as the family perform the function of вЂideological controlвЂ™, or convincing the masses that the present unequal system is inevitable, natural and good. There is thus a conflict of interests between the Bourgeoise and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoise gain their wealth from exploiting the proletariat.

They see society as structured along class lines with institutions generally working in the interests of the small elite class who have economic power (the вЂBourgeoisieвЂ™) and the much larger working class (the вЂProletariatвЂ™). Marxism is a вЂstructural conflictвЂ™ perspective.

This post has been written primarily for students studying the families and household option as part of A-level sociology.Д«efore reading this post, you might like to look at this summary of the key ideas of Marxism. It is also the institution through which the wealthy pass down their private property to their children, thus reproducing class inequality. Marxists argue that the nuclear family performs ideological functions for Capitalism вЂ“ the family acts as a unit of consumption and teaches passive acceptance of hierarchy.

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