Marxism reads social formations as overdetermined unities with relatively autonomous levels

Evidence

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: Marxism conceives society as overdetermined relatively autonomous levels, not a simple unity; Marxism is not economic reductionism and requires attending to ideas in their own terms; The mode of surplus extraction reveals the hidden foundation of the entire social edifice (+35 more)

Related

• Marxism conceives society as overdetermined relatively autonomous levels, not a simple unity (similarity 0.97)
• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy (similarity 0.94)
• Marxism is not economic reductionism and requires attending to ideas in their own terms (similarity 0.92)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once (similarity 0.89)
• Superstructures may require relative autonomy to function at advanced capitalist stages. (similarity 0.87)
• The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously. (similarity 0.87)
• Economic structures are necessary but not sufficient to explain political and ideological features (similarity 0.87)
• The core problem is reconciling economic determination with superstructural autonomy (similarity 0.86)
• Society operates as a complex formation structured in dominance with relative institutional autonomy (similarity 0.86)
• Marxist analysis needs both material grounding and historical specificity to avoid twin errors (similarity 0.85)
• Economic determinacy operates through overdetermination, not simple mechanical causation (similarity 0.85)
• Attending seriously to religious ideology saved Hill’s Marxism from economic reductionism (similarity 0.85)
• Full autonomy of levels fails to explain complex social formation unity. (similarity 0.84)
• Marxism’s relative autonomy model rejects the expressive totality of Geisteswissenschaft thought (similarity 0.83)
• The Second International enshrined reductive economic determinism as official Marxism (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Social formations form complex unities structured in dominance rather than expressive identities. #expands (0.80)
• Full autonomy of social levels cannot capture a social formation’s complex unity #expands (0.80)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once #expands (0.75) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371
• A new Marxist paradigm seeks to overcome economism and reductionism #expands (0.60)