Organic ideologies organize masses while arbitrary ones only produce individual movements

Evidence

One must therefore distinguish between historically organic ideologies, those, that is, which are necessary to a given structure, and ideologies that are arbitrary, rationalistic, or “willed”. To the extent that ideologies are historically necessary they have a validity which is “psychological”; they “organise” human masses, and create the terrain on which men move, acquire consciousness of their position, struggle, etc. To the extent that they are arbitrary they only create individual “movements”, polemics and so on (though even these are not completely useless, since they function like an error which by contrasting with truth, demonstrates it). — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1342

Categorization

• DEFINE: The core Gramscian distinction between organic and arbitrary ideologies, with organic ones doing the work of organizing masses.
• XREF: This organic/arbitrary distinction is the hinge for Gramsci’s later notion of hegemony and common sense that the reader’s Islamophobia texts will assume. — connects to: Masses differ from classes by lacking common-interest articulation; Ideologies act on people structurally through a process that escapes them; Organic intellectuals must arise from and stay in contact with the masses — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1224 (+7 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1342

Broader Connections

• Mass adhesion is the critical test of an ideology’s historical rationality #corroborates (0.85)
• Ideologies act on people structurally through a process that escapes them #expands (0.80)
• Organic intellectuals must arise from and stay in contact with the masses #expands (0.75) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1224