The Education System: Does It Support and Maintain a Capitalist Society?
Assess the view that the education system serves to maintain the capitalist society
Marxism is a conflict view that sees society as being based on class divisions and exploitation. Marxists argue that in society there are two classes – the bourgeoisie which is the ruling class and the proletariat which is the working class. The capitalist class owns the means of production and make their profit by exploiting the labour of the working class. This creates class conflict that could threaten the stability of capitalism or even result in a revolution to overthrow it. Social institutions such as the education system reproduce class inequalities and play an ideological role by persuading exploited workers that inequality is justified and acceptable.
Despite the inequalities in the system, capitalists are able to hold on to power because they control the state. Althusser (1971) claims that the state consists of two elements which help to keep them in power, the first one being the repressive state apparatus – when necessary to protect capitalist interests, the state uses force to repress the working class via the police, courts and army. The second one being that the ideological state apparatus which controls people’s ideas, values and beliefs including the education system.
The education system performs two functions as an ideological state apparatus. The first one being reproduction, education reproduces class inequality, by failing each generation of working class pupils in turn and thereby ensures that they end up in the same kinds of jobs as their parents, as mentioned in Item B – where males are taking their education as a joke simply because they know where they’re going to end up like their fathers.
Secondly, education legitimises (justifies) class inequality by producing ideologies (sets of ideas and beliefs) that disguise its true cause. Education tries to convince people that inequality is inevitable and that failure is the fault of the individual, not the
Marxism is a conflict view that sees society as being based on class divisions and exploitation. Marxists argue that in society there are two classes – the bourgeoisie which is the ruling class and the proletariat which is the working class. The capitalist class owns the means of production and make their profit by exploiting the labour of the working class. This creates class conflict that could threaten the stability of capitalism or even result in a revolution to overthrow it. Social institutions such as the education system reproduce class inequalities and play an ideological role by persuading exploited workers that inequality is justified and acceptable.
Despite the inequalities in the system, capitalists are able to hold on to power because they control the state. Althusser (1971) claims that the state consists of two elements which help to keep them in power, the first one being the repressive state apparatus – when necessary to protect capitalist interests, the state uses force to repress the working class via the police, courts and army. The second one being that the ideological state apparatus which controls people’s ideas, values and beliefs including the education system.
The education system performs two functions as an ideological state apparatus. The first one being reproduction, education reproduces class inequality, by failing each generation of working class pupils in turn and thereby ensures that they end up in the same kinds of jobs as their parents, as mentioned in Item B – where males are taking their education as a joke simply because they know where they’re going to end up like their fathers.
Secondly, education legitimises (justifies) class inequality by producing ideologies (sets of ideas and beliefs) that disguise its true cause. Education tries to convince people that inequality is inevitable and that failure is the fault of the individual, not the