Marxism Theory

Overview of Marxism

• Conflict Theory: The foundation of Marxism is rooted in the concept of conflict theory, which suggests that society operates in conflict rather than consensus.

  • Emphasis on competition among social classes rather than harmony.

  • In contrast to positivism, which assumes a consensus-driven societal structure.

Principles of Marxism

• Class Structure: Identifies the existence of different classes in society, particularly the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

  • Bourgeoisie: The capitalist class who owns the means of production (factories, resources).

  • Proletariat: The working class who sell their labor and have no ownership of production.

• Economic Systems:

  • Analysis of how capitalism shapes societal relationships and creates class distinctions.

  • Focus on the emergence of capitalism during the Industrial Revolution (e.g., steam engine, railroads).

Labor Exploitation

• Exploitation of the Proletariat: Bourgeoisie profits from lower wages paid to the working class, leading to a conflict of interests.

  • Unregulated labor conditions created significant risk (e.g., child labor, dangerous working environments).

• Labor Unions: Emerged to combat exploitation and advocate for labor rights, such as wage increases, breaks, and regulations.

Ideological Constructs

• Superstructures: Marx introduced the concept of superstructures that include institutions (media, government, education) that maintain the status quo of capitalism.

  • Ideologies justify capitalism, presenting it as necessary and beneficial while vilifying non-participants.

  • Examples include societal beliefs that poverty results from laziness, reinforcing class divisions.

False Consciousness

• The idea that oppressed groups accept their socio-economic conditions as normal, even when detrimental to their interests.

  • Historical examples include narratives surrounding the American Dream and individual success through hard work.

Systemic Oppression and Rebellion

• Marx proposed that societal oppression eventually leads to revolts and movements for rights (e.g., civil rights, labor rights).

• Structural inequality is perpetuated through existing socio-economic arrangements.

Marxism and Criminology

• Criminal Justice as a Superstructure: The criminal justice system is viewed as a mechanism that perpetuates class divisions.

  • Targets the proletariat while the bourgeoisie face little scrutiny for corporate crimes (e.g., Jeffrey Reiman's concept of "The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison").

• Targeting of Marginalized Groups: Criminal justice disproportionately affects those in poverty and limits their access to fair legal representation.

Disparities in Enforcement and Access to Justice

• Profound differences exist in how laws are applied to different classes.

  • Example: Welfare fraud is aggressively pursued, while professional fraud (costlier in scale) sees leniency.

• Representation Issues: Marginalized individuals often face legal disadvantages due to lack of resources or effective representation.

Conclusion

• The Marxist framework provides critical insights into the structures of power and inequality in society, exposing the biases in the criminal justice system and the socio-economic challenges faced by marginalized communities.

• It highlights the ongoing conflicts between the bourgeoisie and proletariat and the systems perpetuating these divides.

Marxism = conflict theory

How positivism for uses on the systems and rubric for crime operating with consensus

• Look at the economic system and our relationships with each other

Enlightenment

• Homogeneity and consensus under social contract

• Presupposed laws and social control practices reflect mainstream norms and operate to benefit most of the population

Marxian Theory

Karl Marx

• Advocate for the working middle class

Shifts in Social Hierarchy

• Bourgeoisie

  • A new class gaining power through the capital

  • Overtook the nobility and landlords, reshaping power structures

  • Looks at industrialism

    • People with money and power own the means of production

  • Maximize profit, minimize wage

  • Intro to unions

    • Regulates labour because work was getting exploited (eg. The right to weekends, breaks, child labour laws)

  • The proletarian depended on bourgeoisie for work and employment

Transformation of the State

• State becomes a tool for the ruling class, safeguarding economic and political dominance

• Creations f courts, armies, and police to suppress working class resistance (eg. Riots and strikes)

Historical Materialism

• Looks at society’s material conditions

  • Economic structures, labour relations, and class dynamics

Materialism and Social Change

• Economic shifts drive changes in social relations

• Feudalism to capitalism established inequality in economic and social systems

Industrial Revolution and Advanced Capitalism

• Rise of advance capitalism

  • Bourgeoisie (elites with capital) privately owned means of production (factories, machinery, land)

  • Proletariat (working class) had no access to these means and had to sell their labour power for wages

  • Lead to exploitation

Social Super Structure

• Didn’t look at just economy but the legal systems, education, media, government, and police to maintain current system

  • Proletariat = working class only has labour to sell

  • Bourgeoisie = owners of the means of production

Ideology

• Systems that maintain existing social and political structures

• Promote the superiority of the ruling class

• Vilifying who falls outside the economic arrangement

  • Only those who succeed worked their way to the affluent while those who didn’t are considered lazy

False Consciousness

• Masses accept social structure as natural and normal even when it works against their interest

Class Conflict

• Societies foundation lies in the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat

• Capitalist system = conflict, inequality and power differentials

Labour Exploitation

• Maximizing profit leads to minimized labour costs

  • More profit = less cost for someone to gain, exploit to lose

  • Eg. Minimum wage, lack of benefits, pt time/ contract work

Control over communication

• Bourgeoisie controls production and information flow, limiting proletariats ability to challenge existing power structures

  • Eg. Large corporations control much of the advertising space, using it to promote consumerism and individual success narratives

    • People owning media = tweaking the news

    • Eg. Twitter change to X platform because of new ownership of Elon Musk and whole algorithm changes

    • Media chapels messaging and narratives

Marxism and Legal Apparatus

• Capitalist power controls over

  • laws and policing

    • Designed to protect capitalist interests

    • Criminalize behaviours hat threaten capitalism

      • Eg. Strikes, immigration labour, welfare fraud

  • The “undesirable” (the dangerous classes)

  • Struggle with homeless and addiction etc…

  • People with nothing to lose even when put to prison

    • Targets them and targets crimes that come from poverty

    • Targets street crime so they don’t steal from the “rich”

Marxian theories of crime and deviance

Willed Bonger

• Hedonism, capitalism makes us selfish

  • Structurally induced crimes were eliminated (eg. Poverty related crimes) only psychopathic (psychological positivism) crime would remain   

Steven SPitzer

• Capitalism creates “problem populations”

  • Social Junk = Unneeded Labourers

  • Social Dynamite = those critical of the system

  • (Both of which are considered dangerous classes)

  • The population that are controlled through criminalization (eg. Laws targeting squeegee kids, petty theft, and civil disobedience)

Marxism and Functions of Law

Austin Turk

• Law as a social control agent within the superstructure

• Groups struggle to control legal frameworks

• Laws reflect the cultural, political, and economic interests of those in power

• Enforcement targets the less powerful

  • Eg. Legislation focuses on suppressing uprisings rather than addressing systemic inequalities

  • Squeegee kids

    • Business owners complain too much homeless kids because it devalues heir business

      • External = dangerous

      • Internal = business owners complaints

Richard Quinney and William Chambliss

• Law is not neutral

  • It is a tool for social control, powerful influence where behaviours are criminalized

  • Legal enforcements focuses on suppressing dissent rather than addressing actual social harm

    • Eg. Protest and anti-union laws protect corporate interests, not individual rights