Hashini Mizukami
Soc 110
Final Exam
1. Anomic Suicide
Emilie Durkheim’s theory of the typology of functions uses the concept of anomie to
explain why modern society is getting more complicated and chaotic. Anomie when
society is normlessness, it occurs when an institution is at odds with itself. This happens
when what the formal institution was designed to do, the manifest function, contradicts
what it actually does, the latent functions. Anomic suicide refers to this concept. It exists
in the social system because people feel betrayed and let down by society. When
individuals have high expectations and feel like they did everything required of them but
aren’t seeing the results they were expecting it can lead them to commit anomic suicide.
An example of this is when a student gets high grades in high school, gets accepted into a
top university and gets high grades there as well, but then after graduating can’t find a job.
They feel that they played by the rules but aren’t seeing the promised result. Because this
type of suicide stems from feeling let down by society it is most prevalent with the social
group in power. In our society, it is mostly middle-upper class white men who commit
anomic suicide as they are the ones who had these high expectations from society.
Minorites for example don’t usually end up committing anomic suicide because they don’t
get that feeling of betrayal as they also expected this to be hard for them.
2. Inequality
Inequality was a concept that all conflict theorists focused on, but was popularized by Karl
Marx and his class conflict theory. It refers to disparities in the distribution of resources in
a society. In other words, it is how much the haves have in relation to the have nots.
Inequality is significant because it gives power to the haves that they can exert on the
have nots. This is a huge issue because it gives the have social control and takes away the
have nots’ free will and control. The greater the inequality, the more power the haves
have to tell the have nots how to live their lives. An example of this is the dynamic
between parents and their children. Since parents are the ones will all the resources
(house, money, pay for the bills, etc) they can control their children’s lives and tell them
what to do. But, this only works for as long as the parents have more resources than their
children. Once the kids grow up and gain more resources, the parents’ control over them
lessens as the inequality in resources grows smaller.
3. Commodity Fetishism
Commodity Fetishism is a concept coined by Karl Marx. It’s a form of retail therapy that’s
caused by a desperation to buy back our species being. Our species being is what makes us
human, our essence, it differentiates us from the animals. Our species being is embodied
in labor power where we are paid for simply our time. We are not getting paid for our
creativity or what we created but for just showing up and doing our job. Because owners
are receiving both workers’ labor power and labor, the workers are being robbed of their
species-being as they are only getting paid for their labor. They compensate by trying to
buy it back their species being and replace their labor power, which is commodity
fetishism. Commodity fetishism is Marx’s explanation for why we have increasing rates of
suicide and depression as it is impossible for workers to actually buy back their
species-being and the workers end up trying to buy back their species being from the very
people who took it, the owners. Essentially workers are working for free. The money they
earn from their time is just going straight back to the haves through the purchases of
commodities. They develop an obsession and fetishism with buying things to fill the void
of them becoming wage slaves and practically working for free.
4. The Materialist Conception of History
After Karl Marx studied in the London City Library for years he created the Materialist
Conception of History as a lens with which to view history. This concept is important
because it lays down a framework of how modern workers today can seize the means of
production. It also is the historical precedent for Marx’s Critical Theory. Materialist
Conception of History means that whoever controls the means of production control
society and defines reality. The people will power aim to keep it by defining the rules of
society. This is why the modes of production have changed five times in history as each
change occurred when the means of production changed hands. This change happens
when contradictions in the current mode of production are exposed.
4. Alienation
Karl Marx imposed alienation, a philosophical critique of capitalism. Alienation
occurs in systems of capitalism when people feel alienated and oppressed by
themselves and thus start to hate the product they made, the very essence of their
species-being. It’s significant because it can explain why people, over time, start to
become miserable in their lives and explain why people would ever hate
themselves and become resentful of a life they once loved.
5. End of History
End of History is yet another concept created by Karl Marx. End of History is
caused by the symbolic battle to unlock and free their species being. It is the end of
that nightmare living and the start of humans living as humans, living up to their
potential. It is the point where the proletariat rises up and overthrow the
bourgeoisie, their oppressor, in order to win back their humanity for a better
society. At the End of History there won’t be haves and have nots, just people. It is
the first battle between the haves and have nots. Its a battle for all the resources
and Marx believes the working class will win because they have nothing to lose and
outnumbered the haves. It will result in a new mode of production.
