Marxism

This chapter provides an introduction to some of the key elements of Karl Marx's approach to sociology. It begins by highlighting Marx as a sociologist. The chapter explores his theoretical framework (dialectical materialism), before considering, in turn, what he got right and what he got wrong. It talks about what his work can tell us about death, grief, and bereavement. Denise Bevan comments on the significance of poverty in relation to death, grief, and bereavement. Marx and his work were instrumental in creating and sustaining critical sociological approaches that help us to look more holistically at aspects of social life and not to remain rooted in dominant ideologies and disempowering discourses that serve the interests of the powerful few at the expense of the many. Existentialism has drawn on Marx's insights, particularly in the work of Jean-Paul Sartre, who sought to integrate established existentialist concepts with Marx's structural focus and, in the process, produce a stronger basis of explanatory power.