Power Relations: Marx & Jessica Benjamin
Karl Marx d
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Karl Marx differentiated essential power from political power, arguing that man inherently possesses ôessential powersö that are his to use while also being subjected to the influences of political powers employed by elites within society (Tucker, 88-89). This view of the human condition, which was to a degree appropriated by Jessica Benjamin, suggests that there are elements or forces within any given society which seek to delimit the capacity of an individual or a group (or even a gender) to exercise power. In this essay, the positions of Marx and Benjamin regarding power, its meaning and sources, and its uses in society, will be examined. It will be argued that Benjamin, having ôappropriatedö some of the ideas constructed by Marx regarding power relations, chose to focus on a specific type of gendered power relations in her analysis of contemporary society. Marx, conversely, was less concerned with gender qua gender than with class as a central element in the establishment and maintenance of power relationships in capitalist societies. Both authors, however, take as their point of departure the capitalist political and social structure. MarxÆs theory depends upon the assertion that society is divided into classes of the oppressed and the oppressors who remain in constant opposition to one another. He traced the rise of capitalism to the decline of feudalism as an effective industrial system and the growth of new markets after the colonization of the non-European
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ul work was poorly rewarded (Tucker, 738).
Benjamin (1, 167-169), in her discussion of womenÆs domination and male cultural hegemony makes the case that implicit within patriarchal societies is a rationalization of male violence. Within capitalism, women are seen by Benjamin (168) as confined to the private household or ôa dwindling maternal world.ö Women become devoid of power because of their role as nurturing caregivers and because of what Benjamin (1, 145) sees as the repudiation of nurturance in capitalist culture, women become less powerful than males regardless of their socioeconomic, educational, or political status. In essence, Benjamin (1, 165) takes the position that power relationships within capitalist society create a master-slave relationship that is detrimental to women.
In this area, Benjamin is clearly moving away from Marxist interpretations of power relationships and is focusing instead on a proto-feminist, anti-Freudian analysis of gender relationships. These relationships, according to Benjamin (2, 178-179), are also shaped by personal factors such as sexuality and sexual fantasies that are often filled with aggression and aggressive impulses. Where Marx asserted that aggression in society was the
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Approximate Word count = 2682
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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