Ideology is a material system of meaning, not merely false consciousness

Evidence

Both also maintain that “ideology” is not a simple form of false consciousness, to be explained as a set of myths or simple false constructions in the head. All societies require specific ideologies, which provide those systems of meaning, concepts, categories, and representations which make sense of the world, and through which men come to “live” (albeit unconsciously, and through a series of “misrecognitions”), in an imaginary way, their relation to the real, material conditions of their existence (which are only representable to them, as modes of consciousness, in and through ideology). — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 628

Categorization

• DEFINE: Central definition of ideology as lived imaginary relation to material conditions — the load-bearing concept of Gramscian/Althusserian theory.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 628
• XREF: connects to: Ideology represents imaginary relations to real conditions of existence; Ideology and material practice relate through systematic disjuncture, not correspondence; Ideology appears as manifest surface while its real foundations are hidden (+19 more)

Broader Connections

• Ideology represents imaginary relations to real conditions of existence #corroborates (0.90)
• Ideology is real practice dislocated from, not fantasy opposed to, reality #corroborates (0.90)
• Ideology expresses lived imaginary relations rather than actual conditions of existence. #corroborates (0.85)
• Ideology and material practice relate through systematic disjuncture, not correspondence #qualifies (0.50)
• Ideological consciousness arises from phenomenal exchange relations, not directly from production. #complicates (0.50)
• Articulation is a non-necessary linkage connecting ideology to social forces under specific conditions #expands (0.50)
• Ideology appears as manifest surface while its real foundations are hidden #complicates (0.40)
• Serious attention to ideology in its own terms strengthens rather than weakens Marxism. #expands (0.40)