Social Work Theories: Marxism and Feminism

Running head: SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
Social Work theories: Marxism and Feminism
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1SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
The concept and practices of social work is based on many theories and frameworks
that constitutes the whole of it. The theories create the basic understanding, values and
principles of social work while the frameworks provide the processes through which the
practice takes place (Payne, 2014). The practice of social work is based on human behavior,
human development and social systems and constructs. Among the most pervasive theories,
the Marxist theory and the feminist theory are among the two most effective and impactful
for social work practice development. The Marxist theory of conflict creates the basis of
social work (Healy, 2014). It propagates that the conflict between the social classes are the
source of instability in the society and a more equal and distributed societal system is the key
to balanced society. The feminist theory extends this idea of power struggle though the
division here is gender division. This essay summarizes the key aspects of Marxism, the
strengths and weaknesses of the theory and its implication in social work. Similarly, it also
presents the key aspects of feminism, its strengths and weaknesses and its implication on
social work.
Marxist theory is focused on class struggle, distribution of the resources, power
division and inequality. Marx bases his theory on the feudal society where most of the
production was concentrated on the hand of the feudal lords (The Curious Classroom, 2013).
The peasants that produced them were mere means of production and could not enjoy the
surplus. In the industrial era, this division of labor intensified as the factory owners or the
bourgeoisie started to control the resources necessary for production and forced the others to
sell their labors in order to meet their livelihood. The bourgeoisie controlled the profit and
their focus was to increase their profit margin as much as possible. In doing so, they reduced
wages, increased working hours to enhance production. Marx opines that this system of labor
is likely to increase the difference between the two classes and at a certain point the

2SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
proletariat or the working class would force a change leading to revolution (CrashCourse,
2017).
The revolution that Marx had forecasted did not take place neither was capitalism
challenged in any way. In this juncture, the Frankfurt school of critical theory was introduced
that explained the phenomena. The theory of Marx was concerned with the basic question
what it means to be free as Marx realized that the human beings are exceptionally entangled
and the moment they disentangle from on constraint they re-entangle with others
(khanacademymedicine, 2013). The conflict theory gives way to the critical social work
theory which focuses on the application of social work perspectives through a critical
approach. Critical theory of social work is designed to address the injustices in the society,
oppression and struggle that are borne out of the theory Marx. This theory positions social
workers as catalyst for change in society and a tool for social order in capitalism. Through
social work, the differences in social class, the concentration of profit and the division of
labor can be reduced.
The Marxist theory has many strengths and limitations in it. The strengths of the
theory is that it seeks to create a truly equal society where the resources are distributed
equally. It places importance on human rights and reducing the gap between the rich and the
poor. It creates the basis of the modern governmental system where every person, irrespective
of their race, gender or any other aspects should get the access to basic necessities of life
(Thompson, 2017). The second strength is that it gives importance to society and social
structures. It does so by the explanation of the conflict between the bourgeoisie and
proletariat. The third strength is that unknowingly, it promotes entrepreneurship. When free
competition enters the market, the monopoly of the capitalists reduce and small businesses
flourish which is reflected in present global scenario. Fourth, it protects the human rights,
tries to reduce the plight of the working class and rights of union.

3SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
The weaknesses of Marxism are many. The Marxist theory does not include the
cultural and ideological factors into the theory which the later, Frankfurt school does
(Strickland, 2007). Second, the conflict theory talks about the root causes of conflict in the
society but does account for the stability of society. Third, the conflict theory of Marx does
not account for the unity of the society and only talks about the revolution and restructuring
of the society. Fourth, the theory did not correctly foretell the revolution as entrepreneurial
capitalism took the place of worker’s revolution. Finally, the conflict that Marx talks about is
focused on the nations that are based on industrialism. It does not take into account, the more
ecologically sustainable states and economy as too much importance is attributed to the
economic aspect of development.
Marxism forms the basis of social work as the main philosophy and aim of social
work is to ensure that people in need are provided with resources. The basis of Marxism is on
oppression and social work seeks to reduce the plight of the disadvantaged. The idea of
critical social work evolved from Marxism which seeks to bring radical changes into the
society through social work practices (Wild Smile, 2017). The critical theory seeks to address
the following issues. Poverty, unemployment and social exclusion are among the most
addressed issues in critical social work. This social work approach tries to reduce racism and
any other forms of discrimination. The critical social work is designed to help people in
issues regarding housing, healthcare, education and employment, abuse exploitation, crime
and social unrest.
Despite the weaknesses of Marxism, the radical social work theory that emerged from
it creates the basis of social work approach and philosophy. The aim of social work is to
ensure that the people in the society are provided with the basic necessities such as food,
place to live, work and psychological satisfaction (Jagpal, 2017). The critical social work
approach does all that and tries to do so through the resources provided by the bourgeoisie

4SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
through donations. The critical social work theory recognizes the society as a community and
believes in collective working. It seeks to empower people in disadvantaged position and deal
with social issues in a collective manner rather than approaching them individually.
Feminism is a movement that is spread across politics, culture and economy that
seeks to address the inequalities between genders and tries to establish equal rights of
women, legal protection and giving voice to the women (Payne, 2014). The main idea of
feminism is based on the thesis that all the existing philosophies and theories are from male
point of view and none of them truly address the oppression that the women have faced. The
term feminism is a relatively new one but the existence of feminism can be found long ago.
Feminist movements can be divided into three waves. The most modern approaches to
feminism seeks to address the legal rights of women, right to bodily integrity, abortion rights,
protection from domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape, workplace equality,
misogyny and any other forms of gender specific discrimination that pervades the society and
needs solution to establish a more balanced societal structure (Pruchniewska & Duffy, 2016).
The feminist theory challenges the age old idea of women as nature and nurture, the
idea that women can find self-fulfillment through childrearing and taking care of the
household. The feminist movement wants to create a welfare state where rights are equal for
all. The theory denies the misogynistic idea of child rearing as solely responsibility of
women. The main focus of feminism is reducing the gender division in job roles and establish
the integrity and value of women as equal to men (Katz, 2013). The existential and
phenomenological approach to feminism focuses on the otherization of women and the
subsequent suppression and oppression that women have faced. Their focus is also on
establishing the idea of structural oppression which attributes the plight of women to
patriarchy, racism and capitalism while the radical feminists seek alternative structures for
women in society to support the biological differences that exist between man and women.

5SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
Feminism has also been extended to the study of intersectionality which has developed the
idea of double discrimination for women who also belong to the marginalized section
(Mattsson, 2013).
Despite much criticism and barriers, feminist movement has gained momentum and
that is because of the strengths that it possesses. It has been able to achieve many of the
desired results. The first strength of feminism is that it promotes equal rights of women.
While patriarchy or other philosophies concentrate on dominance of one class over the other,
feminism promotes an equal and balanced society (WuDunn, 2010). The second advantage is
that it has been an effective method to achieve legal and human rights for women including
voting rights, right to education, anti-exploitation rights, right to expression, right to own
property and many more. The third advantage is that Feminism has been key instrument in
reducing the objectification of women and social injustice. In doing so, they have included
many of male members who promote the same idea, which shows that the demands that they
make are universally supported and it is only some power hungry misogynist that are keeping
the right of women from them.
The weaknesses of feminism are many. The first weakness is that there are many
branches of feminism and many more that are appearing. This makes it difficult to follow and
keep track of. The second weakness is the form of radical feminism is often criticized by
people as it seeks alternative structure of society for women. The third weakness is that there
are many misappropriation of feminist argument which actually makes the movement much
weaker. As people propagate those false feminism, society becomes much more resistant to
change (Cree, 2018). The fourth disadvantage is that it does not consider the oppressions that
take place against men neither does it address such issues as domestic violence against men.

6SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
The implication of feminism on social work is immense. Feminism provides an
alternative lens through which social injustice and oppression could be seen (King, 2017). As
social work seeks to reduce social inequalities and discrimination and women constitute a
large section of the society that tare being oppressed due to their gender and gender roles, the
feminist perspective provides the social workers a concrete subject on which their practices
are based on. Feminism also provides the basis of policy making and intervention processes
that are related to social work. Many of the organizations involved in this sector are working
for the empowering and uplifting women through education, employment and social support
(Turner & Maschi, 2015). The feminist perspectives provides them with the framework to do
so.
Though feminist have different perspectives such as radical feminism, socialist
feminism, liberal feminism and many more, all of them focus on the power concentration in
the society and tries to empower the marginalized groups to bring social change. Social work
is not only about serving people through providing them with basic necessities but also to
change the current scenario and provide more power to the marginalized section of the
society (Yates & Rai, 2019). For example, social workers are campaigning on the father’s
role in child rearing in order to promote equal distribution of caregiving activities and equal
right of women. Social work values include working in an anti-oppressive manner and
feminism echoes the values. Feminism, thus, ensure that social work practices evolve
constantly with changes in the society and adapt itself with current social needs.
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that both Marxism and Feminism are
both equally important theories that informs and constructs diverse perspectives of social
work. The values and principles of social work are based on many theories and Marxism
provides the basic pillar as Marxism propagates the idea of class conflict, oppression,
discrimination and a need for equality in the society. Marx in his theory describes the

7SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
oppressions that the proletariat faced on the hands of bourgeoisie which then leads to the idea
of class struggle and the restructuring of the society. The revolution that Marx had predicted
did not happen while it may be argued that it was because of the intervention of social work
and welfares such as social work provides that the proletariat was able to get necessary
resources and support for their development which later have birth to the group of
intellectuals, erudite and entrepreneurs. Feminism on the other hand is an alternate lens for
viewing the world and provides much of the basis of the values on which social work practice
is based on. The anti-oppression that feminists propagate are essential for social work
practice as feminist approach to social work tries to establish a much equal and balanced
society.

8SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
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