Abstract
In this chapter, I explore social class in capitalist societies relying heavily on feminist, neo-Marxist class analysis. I consider how social class is maintained, reproduced, and diminished through dynamics of social, economic, symbolic, and cultural capital. I highlight interclass families as a special topic and offer a case example to demonstrate how the concepts in this chapter can be applied in family therapy.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood Press.
Bowe, J. (2008). Nobodies: Modern American slave labor and the dark side of the new global economy. New york: Random House.
Dilaway, H., & Broman, C. (2001). Race, class and gender differences in marital satisfaction among dual-earner couples: A case for intersectional analysis. Journal of Family Issues, 22(3), 309–327.
Eisenstein, Z. (1998). Global obscenities: Patriarchy, capitalism, and the lure of cyber fantasy. New York: University Press.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Garcia, M., & McDowell, T. (2010). Mapping social capital: A critical contextual approach for working with low-status families. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 36(1), 96–107.
Harvey, D. (2001). Spaces of capital. New York: Routledge.
Korin, E. C. (1994). Social inequalities and therapeutic relationships: Applying Freire’s ideas to clinical practice. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 5(3/4), 75–98.
MartÃn-Baró, I. (1994). Writings for a liberatorion psychology. Cambridge: Harvard University.
McDowell, T., & Hernandez, P. (2010). Decolonizing academia: Intersectionality, participation, and accountabililty in family therapy and counseling. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 22(2), 93–111.
McDowell, T., Melendez, T., Althusius, E., Hergic, S., Sleeman, G., Ton, N., & Zimpfer-Bak, A. (2013). Exploring social class: Voices of inter-class couples. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 39(1), 59–71. doi:10.1111/j.1752–0606.2011.00276.x.
McLaren, P., & Farahmandpur, R. (2001). Class, cultism and multiculturalism: A notebook on forging a revolutionary politics. Multicultrual Education, 8(3), 2–14.
Stanton-Salazar, R. (2001). Manufacturing hope and despair. New York: Teachers College Press.
von Werlhof, C. (2007). No critique of capitalism without critique of patriarchy: Why the left is no alternative. Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, 18(1), 13–27.
Wolff, E. (2012). The asset price meltdown and the wealth of the middle class. New York University. Unpublished manuscript.
Zrenchik, K., & McDowell, T. (2012). Class and classism in family therapy praxis: A feminist Neo-Marxist approach. Journal of Feminist Family Therapies, 24(2), 101–120.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 American Family Therapy Academy
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McDowell, T. (2015). Capitalism, Social Class, and Family Praxis. In: Applying Critical Social Theories to Family Therapy Practice. AFTA SpringerBriefs in Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15633-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15633-0_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15632-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15633-0
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)