Fidelity-Unit of Consumption

Fidelity

Faithfulness, usually in a relationship.

Consensual

All involved agree willingly.

Multi-functional

Performing lots of functions, such as the pre-industrial family.

Urbanisation

The process of people who had previously lived in the countryside moving to the towns and cities, usually to find work in factories, mills and so on.

Isolated nuclear family

A family that is self-contained and which has little contact with extended kin.

Geographical mobility

Refers to people and families physically moving across the country, usually in search of work or education.

Ascription/ascribed role

A role assigned at birth over which an individual has little choice or say.

Structural differentiation

The emergence of specialised agencies which gradually took over many of the functions of the pre-industrial extended family.

Basic and irreducible functions

The two crucial functions performed by the nuclear family in modern capitalist societies: the primary socialisation of children, and the stabilisation of adult personalities.

Stabilisation of adult personality

An irreducible function of the nuclear family according to Parsons, in which the male worker's immersion in his family supposedly relieves him of the pressures of work and contemporary society, just as a warm bath soothes and relaxes the body.

Instrumental leader

The role of economic provider or breadwinner for the nuclear family.

Expressive leader

The role of nurturer of children, primarily responsible for the primary socialisation of children, and emotional caretaker. According to Parsons, females have a 'natural' empathy for this role.

Loss of functions

The functionalist idea that the multi-functional extended family of the pre-industrial era lost many of its functions after the industrial revolution.

ideology

A set of ideas which most people believe to be true but which in fact are myths or misrepresentations. They are usually encouraged by powerful groups because such ideas tend to justify and legitimate the power and wealth of those groups.

Falsely conscious

A way of thinking that prevents a person from perceiving the true nature of their social or economic situation.

Alienation

A concept which Marxists in particular suggest is now becoming a common characteristic of how workers feel about their jobs. Alienation refers to the lack of satisfaction, identification and control that workers experience on a daily basis and the fact that they work merely for a wage.

False needs

According to Marxism, the logic of capitalism as expressed through advertising is to sell as many commodities to consumers as possible. This often involves 'persuading' consumers to indulge in false wants or needs, that is, to buy commodities that are not essential and not built to last.

Unit of consumption

The family is the main unit of consumption in capitalist society because agents of capitalism such as advertisers and the media promote consumer items in such a way that they are specifically aimed at encouraging family members to buy them.