Social Work Theories: Marxism and Feminism | Report

Running head: SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
Social Work Theories: Marxism and Feminism
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1SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
Social work is an approach at creating empowered beings and increasing the overall
wellness of the society. Social work practices thus, focus on the physical, psychological,
economic and political needs of individuals, families, groups and communities and work for
the improvement of the societal conditions and standing of the people who are disadvantaged
in the society. In order to serve the society and help people achieve their wellness, the social
workers need to understand the problems and issues that people have in the society and the
root causes and histories of that struggle. In this regard, Marxist and feminist theories provide
the basis of understanding the social structure, class division, oppression and discrimination
that informs social work practices (Godwin, 2020). This essay explores the theories of
Marxism and feminism and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the theories, finally,
the essay analyses the implications of these two theories on social work practice.
The theories of Marx creates the basis of class struggle and power division, resource
distribution in the society and the inequalities between social classes (Payne, 2014). The
theory of Marx propagates the reasons of conflict between classes and thus is known as
conflict theory. Marx bases his theory from the time when the idea of personal property
became popular. Earlier, people lived in communal spaces and shared resources. As the
societal system changed, people having more power forced others to sell their labor in order
to earn their livelihoods. This led to the feudal system of society (khanacademymedicine,
2013). This marks the beginning of the increasing difference between the rich and the poor as
the feudal lords started to control the produce and money and the peasants were given merely
enough for their survival. Later, in the industrial age, another class emerged who are the
factory owners. They are called bourgeoisie by Marx.
In the industrial age, the bourgeoisie started to control the means of production and
the resources as well (Healy, 2014). The rest of the population were forced to sell their labor
once again to earn their livelihood. The factory owners having access to money and resource

2SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
started to increase their profit by reducing wage and increasing production through longer
working hours and more mechanical settings like assembly line. The workers or the
proletariat was dissatisfied with the working conditions and wages and started to protest
against them. This is the basis of the struggle that Marx is concerned about. He believes that
this struggle will increase and after a certain time the working class will overthrow the power
of the bourgeoisie and establish new social structure (CrashCourse, 2017). Marx’s theory was
later modified by the Frankfurt school of social science and later Marxists. This theory
creates the basis of social work practice popularly known as critical social work theory.
The Marxist theory of social conflict has many strengths. First, the main motto of
Marx in propagating this theory is to create a society that is truly equal. In his idea of a
society which is likely to be stable, resources are distributed communally and profit is shared
among people as well (The Curious Classroom, 2013). Second, this theory gives importance
to the human rights of people which Marx seeks to achieve by reducing the gap that exists
between the rich and poor sections of the society. The third strength is that it creates the idea
of a welfare state and governmental intervention so that people in general are provided with
the basic necessities of life. Fourth, it provides a clear understanding of the social construct
and class struggle. Fifth, the conflict theory also promotes entrepreneurship as the theory
talks about providing education and basic amenities and one of the outcome of this approach
is an educated class equipped to demand their share in profit (Godwin, 2020).
The theory of Marx has many weaknesses as well. In describing class struggle, the
theory does not consider the ideological as well as the cultural factors into account which the
later Frankfurt school does. The second weakness is that the theory fails to provide reason for
the stability of society and the unity that is more prominent in society (CrashCourse, 2017).
Fourth, Marx talks about working class revolution and establishing new social structure but
that actually never happens. In its place a new class, the entrepreneurs enter as free

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competition. Finally, the theory of Marx is only applicable to the societies that are industrial.
It is not applicable to the agrarian societies.
The Marxist theory of social conflict creates the basis of social work. The branch
of social work that is developed from this theory is known as critical social work theory. The
aim of social work is to provide people with their needs and necessities so that they become
empowered to participate in the struggle of survival. Marx’s theory is based on the
oppression of capitalist on the working class and the problems in the society are born out of
that oppression (Strickland, 2007). Thus, the social work approach born out of Marxism,
seeks to reduce the class distinctions, struggle between the class and discrimination by
providing the disadvantaged with necessary support and resources so that the gap between the
poor and the rich reduces. Along with class discrimination, racism, housing issues, abuse,
exploitation, crime, education and employment all comes under the critical social work
approach as all of these are key resources that would equip the disadvantaged people.
In the conflict theory of Marx, lies the basic philosophy and values of social work
theory. The promotion of human rights and creation of a more equal society which is the
basis of social work (Wild Smile, 2017). Moreover, the resources that the disadvantages
section receives are funded through the money that the bourgeoisie donates and this indirectly
redistributes the profit that they make and thus moving towards the equality that the conflict
theory propagates. The critical social work theory believes in a society that lives like a
community and grows through collective work and sharing wealth. The focus thus, is
improving the condition of the people in need through collective work rather than individual
approach. As the critical social work approach positions social workers as the catalyst that
will bring the desired change and create a free state (Jagpal, 2017).

4SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
Feminism, despite many misunderstanding and misappropriations, seeks to establish
equality of sexes in political, economic, personal and social context through movements and
ideologies (Pease, 2016). The basic claim of the feminist theory is that the society has been
dictated my male oriented point of view while dismissing the rights and justice for the other
gender, women. The problems that the feminist theory seeks to address is gender
stereotyping, prejudice, social barriers, human rights, equality and objectification of women.
Since the time Shelly propagated her Vindication, there has been numerous feminists and
theorists who have come up with different branches of thought and enriched the movement
(Katz, 2013). The feminist movement is divided into three waves and each of them has been
successful in achieving outcomes that strengthened the position of women in the society.
Feminist movement has been able to secure property rights, voting rights, right to education
and reduced in gender pay gap. There has been rethinking of gender roles and stereotyping in
the present times which is among the greatest successes.
Since Shelly’s time, not only women but also men have fought for the rights of
women and have promoted the very same ideas. There have been extensive misunderstanding
and misappropriation of feminism that has led to the criticism of the feminist movement.
There are different branches of feminism and each of them seeks to promote and fight for
diverse ranges of oppression and legal and social rights of women. Feminism in the recent
time, is also concerned with intersectionality (Mattsson, 2013). Women being the other in the
society is marginalized as it is. Along with this, when other minority factors are added like,
cultural or ethnic minority, the situation become much more complex. For example, the
indigenous women of Canada are more likely to face societal challenges than their non-
indigenous counterparts due to their intersectionality and double discrimination of the
society. Feminism is also the lens through which new approaches of social work has
developed.

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The feminist movements has many strengths. The first among these is that the
feminist theory challenges many of the ancient concepts like women’s fulfilment through
childrearing and limiting the role of women in household work. It establishes the position of
women at the equal seating of men and demands equal attention from the society. The second
is that it talks about equal rights (WuDunn, 2010). Though many radical and pseudo feminists
would like to believe differently, feminism is not about subjugation of men by women.
Neither does it seek to create a completely female centered state. It seeks equal participation
of women in politics, equal representation of women in the top positions in all spheres like
politics, business, society and government. The third strength is that it has been proven an
effective tool for achieving the legal and social rights that women are presently enjoying.
Fourth, feminism has been successful in reducing the objectification of women and social
injustice thought it is far from being removed. It has successfully addressed the inhuman
practices of genital mutation, child marriage violence against men which further proves the
all-encompassing ability of the theory (Eyal-Lubling & Krumer-Nevo, 2016).
There are also several weaknesses of the feminist theory. The first weakness is that
the diverse views of feminism are different to keep track of and difficult to differentiate
between. Second, the radical feminism and many other pseudo-feminist pass of misandry as
feminism thus creating further resistance in the society. Due to this reason, feminism has
gathered much criticism and ridicule from the anti-feminists (Epstein, Hosken & Vassos,
2018). In many cases, it does not recognize the contribution of men neither does it address the
gender roles that men have to play nor their implication on their psychology. Fourth, in many
cases misplaces feminist thoughts have given rise to the idea of establishing an all-female
states as the feminists sometimes propagate that females are self-sufficient and they do not
need men.

6SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
The social work perspectives are influenced by feminism immensely. The feminist
theories talk about the structure and the dynamics of the experience of women in the social,
political, interpersonal and sexual ladder (Payne, 2014). The feminist principles of social
work covers micro and macro intervention where social workers work for improving the
social standing of women, empowering them and making them more independent. The
feminist principles of social work follows the core principles which include gendered lens,
which propagates that the dynamics and relations of the society both shape and are shaped by
the roles and responsibilities attributed to gender. When approaching any client or person in
need, it is necessary to understand the gendered roles that they are being subjected to and
since most of the clients as well as social workers are females, a gendered analysis of
intervention becomes almost obvious (Darias & Ávila, 2016). The feminist social work
perspective also includes the principle of deconstructing the gender roles, challenging the age
old beliefs of the society in order to bring changes in the processes in society.
Feminism also informs inclusive and diverse social work practice. The main agenda
of feminism is to do away with the oppression and subordination of women and feminist
social work practices have adopted this to be one of their core principles. The feminist social
work practice is based on the core idea of feminism such as collaborative decision making,
equal social facilities and exposure and flat hierarchies (Turner & Maschi, 2015). It is
necessary note that the victims of most of violence and oppression are women and to serve
them properly, understanding their discourse and limitations, the struggle and their
psychology becomes utmost important in social work. The feminist social work approach
also tries to change the status quo through cultural and structural changes in norms, gender
roles and status. All of these constitutes a holistic view of social work that has become the
core in the practice.

7SOCIAL WORK THEORIES: MARXISM AND FEMINISM
From the above discussion, it is evident that different theories has contributed
differently in the practice of social work. The Marxist theory of conflict while has created the
basis of social work through the introduction of the idea of resource and wealth redistribution
and equal society, power struggle and discrimination, the feminist perspective has provided a
more empathetic view of social work where addressing the issues of the oppressed and
disadvantages became the priority of the social workers. The feminist approach of social
work has created a multisystem approach and a politicized context for social work for which
the discipline has gained its importance in recent times. Thus, by incorporating the ideals of
the conflict theory and collaborating them with the ideals of feminism, a truly equal society
can be achieved.

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