Individual and social liberation must be waged together but not assumed interdependent

Evidence

To express this with that radicalism of conception which in practice is naturally approached only fragmentarily, all human psychic events and ideal constructions are to be understood as contents and norms of individual life, and just as thoroughly as contents and norms of existence in social interaction, as for Spinoza the cosmic-absolute existence is to be conceived now under the attribute of extension, now (and just as completely) under that of thought—una eademque res, sed duobus modis expressa [“one and the same thing, but expressed in two modes.”] — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 213 (#expands, via linked claim)

Whether or not we try to develop an adequate Marxist theory of ideology from this point, it seems to be the case that the problem of ideology presents us with a paradigm instance of Marxist theory as such , what Althusser has called the necessity—and the difficulty—of holding on to “both ends of the chain” at once: the relative autonomy of a region (e.g., ideology) and its “determination in the last instance” (i.e., the determinacy of ideology by other instances, and, in the last instance, by the economic). It is the necessity to hold fast to the latter protocol which has, from time to time, sanctioned a tendency to collapse the levels of a special formation—especially, to collapse “ideas” or ideology into “the base” (narrowly defined as “the economic”). On the other hand, it is the requirement to explore the difficult terrain of “relative autonomy” (of ideology) which has given the field of ideology its awkward openness. It is through this gap—to borrow a recent metaphor of Althusser’s—that the “pup” of semiology continues to “slip between the legs” of a Marxist theory of ideology. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Full autonomy of social levels cannot capture a social formation’s complex unity; Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371; Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy (+17 more)

Related

• Marxism conceives society as overdetermined relatively autonomous levels, not a simple unity (similarity 0.85)
• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy (similarity 0.84)
• The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously. (similarity 0.84)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once (similarity 0.83)
• Marxism reads social formations as overdetermined unities with relatively autonomous levels (similarity 0.82)
• Marxism is not economic reductionism and requires attending to ideas in their own terms (similarity 0.82)
• Superstructures may require relative autonomy to function at advanced capitalist stages. (similarity 0.82)
• Political and intellectual action is the true expression of economic necessity (similarity 0.81)
• Human life must be understood under both individual and social attributes at once (similarity 0.80)
• Marxist analysis needs both material grounding and historical specificity to avoid twin errors (similarity 0.80)
• Individual and society are methodological standpoints, not separable entities (similarity 0.79)
• Economic structures are necessary but not sufficient to explain political and ideological features (similarity 0.79)
• Reified social wholes are objective forces that decide individual existence (similarity 0.79)
• Social formations form complex unities structured in dominance rather than expressive identities. (similarity 0.79)
• Society operates as a complex formation structured in dominance with relative institutional autonomy (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Human life must be understood under both individual and social attributes at once #expands (0.82) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 213
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once #expands (0.65) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371
• Full autonomy of social levels cannot capture a social formation’s complex unity #expands (0.60)
• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy #expands (0.60)
• Society operates as a complex formation structured in dominance with relative institutional autonomy #expands (0.55)
• Social stability must never come at the cost of necessary change or social justice #qualifies (0.45)
• Elevating the individual reduces societal suffering. #qualifies (0.40) — Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life An Antidote to Chaos, 88