family as unit of mass consumption![]()
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Engels: The origin of the Family
Engels argued that the need for the family arose when societies started to value private property. With the rise of private property an organised system of inheritance became necessary ‑ fathers needed to know who their offspring were in order to pass their property down the family line. With this, argues Engels, the need for monogamy arose ‑ one man married to one woman ‑ and hence the family was created. Therefore the family serves the interests of the economy ‑ in this case the creation of ownership of property – while subjecting women to unequal power relations in the home. ![]()
Zaretsky: how
the family benefits capitalism
Zaretsky suggests that the family serves capitalism by offering emotional security from the oppressive world of work, thus allowing such oppression to continue. However, in reality, it only provides emotional warmth to encourage its members to continue to live another day under the harsh realities of capitalism ![]()
Althusser
and Poulantzas: The ideological role of the family
The family can be seen as serving the functions of an ideological state apparatus by socialising both pro-capitalist ideology and its own familiar ideology in order to maintain such family patterns over time. For example the family socialises its members into accepting gender roles, into accepting that it is 'natural' for men and women to get married and engage in separate roles and jobs in the home: an attitude that is passed down from generation to generation. |