Marxism in Media Texts

Marxism in Media Texts

Karl Marx created the Marx Theory. Marxism is classed as a Sociologist Theory. Society uses a system called Capitalism for which the government want to keep the rich, rich and the poor, poor. With the capitalism system, there is a conflict between the rich & the poor. Capitalism is an economic system where a small minority of society own the forces of production (factories & information). This minority is called the Ruling Class (the Bourgeosie) – they employ people to work for them to produce goods that they sell. Marx called this arrangement the relations of production and argued it exploited the subject class (the proletariat).

How did we end up with Capitalism? Marx proposed some stages: Primitive Communism, Slavery, Feudalism, and Capitalism.

Strengths of Marxism: 1) It’s a structuralised approach – links the major institutions and media together. 2) Marxism has been a major influence on Society. 3) Emphasises the importance of the economic society. 4)

Weaknesses of Marxism: 1) It is seen as economically deterministic; everything revolves around money. 2) Classic Marxism has ignored the role of women in society. 3) Society doesn’t always operate in the interests of the ruling class. 4) Russia and China have actually become capitalist nations & turned their backs on communism. 5) Functionalists criticise Marxism for over-emphasising conflict when there must be harmony and shared values for social order to be possible.