Non-reductionist superstructural theory rests on the concept of articulation

Evidence

There are problems with Laclau’s tentative formulations: for example, what are “class practices” which can operate to transform ideologies but which are, themselves, presumably, without any specific ideological elements which “belong” to them? Despite these difficulties, these theorists begin to give us the tentative elements by means of which we can attempt to construct a non-reductionist theory of the superstructural or extra-economic aspects of social formations—once again, powered through the use of the concept of articulation. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 630

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• DEFINE: Names articulation as the core theoretical tool for a non-reductionist view of superstructures.

Related

• Articulation is a non-necessary linkage connecting ideology to social forces under specific conditions (similarity 0.80)
• Articulation resists fixed definition though it marks a theoretical rupture (similarity 0.80)
• Gramsci centers the base-superstructure passage as the root of nonreductionist analysis (similarity 0.79)
• Nonreductionist analysis must trace movement through the whole social formation, not just the base (similarity 0.79)
• Articulation lacks one settled definition yet marks a pivotal theoretical rupture in structuralist Marxism (similarity 0.78)
• Structure and superstructure connect only through historically specific mechanisms, not automatic correspondence. (similarity 0.78)