Even the word Marxism tends to bring
negative ideas of dystopian societies to many people’s minds. Marxist Analysis
however is not focused on government structures necessarily, but on the
hierarchies that develop within people’s relationships.
The first important aspect of Marxist
analysis is examining who hold power and what ideology is being reinforced by
the status quo. If the ideal being examined is one enforced by those in power
it is said to be the society’s hegemony. A great analogy to think about when
trying to understand Marxism is a stereotypical High School social structure.
The popular kids have power over the other kids and whatever they say is cool
becomes the status quo. Any attempt to work against the system is perceived as
wrong and those kids are socially shunned.
Through Marxist analysis people can
be sorted into four categories based on their opinions of the hierarchical
system:
Hierarchical Elitist- Strongly
believe in a hierarchical system, and that those in power should look after the
lower strata. (Ex: Cheerleader and Jock types- interested in being on top of
social structure might make friends below social status for “charity”)
Egalitarian- Believe that people are
all inherently equal and any differences are purely social and not that important.
(Ex: A more realistic High Schooler who makes friends without thought of social
status)
Competitive Individualist- Look out
for themselves want freedom to compete fairly and be protected by the hierarchy.
(Ex: The student council person who just wants something to look good on their
college application)
Fatalist- Have no interest in
hierarchical system. (The stereotypical High School rebel)
No comments:
Post a Comment