Ideology represents imaginary relations to real conditions of existence

Evidence

It was only a short step—the one which separates For Marx from Althusser’s “Ideological State Apparatuses”—to the development of an account of how this “imaginary relation” served, not simply the dominance of a ruling class over a dominated one, but (through the reproduction of the relations of production, and the constitution of labor-power in a form fit for capitalist exploitation) the expanded reproduction of the mode of production itself. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 195 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

  • XREF: connects to: Marxist theory lacks an adequate theory of representation to constitute ideology as a region; Capitalist relations must be reproduced ideologically, not just economically — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 628; Ideology is a material system of meaning, not merely false consciousness — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 628 (+19 more)

Broader Connections