Political and intellectual action is the true expression of economic necessity

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: The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously.; Juridico-political ideology masks the economic’s determinant role under capitalism; Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371 (+10 more)

Related

• The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously. (similarity 0.92)
• Economic structures are necessary but not sufficient to explain political and ideological features (similarity 0.90)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once (similarity 0.88)
• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy (similarity 0.87)
• Economic determinacy operates through overdetermination, not simple mechanical causation (similarity 0.87)
• Marxism is not economic reductionism and requires attending to ideas in their own terms (similarity 0.86)
• The core problem is reconciling economic determination with superstructural autonomy (similarity 0.85)
• Superstructures may require relative autonomy to function at advanced capitalist stages. (similarity 0.84)
• The economy can never act independently of political and ideological practices. (similarity 0.84)
• The Second International enshrined reductive economic determinism as official Marxism (similarity 0.84)
• Modes of determination allow ideological superstructures more than a residual role (similarity 0.83)
• The economy can never act detached from political and ideological practices. (similarity 0.83)
• Marxism conceives society as overdetermined relatively autonomous levels, not a simple unity (similarity 0.82)
• Attending seriously to religious ideology saved Hill’s Marxism from economic reductionism (similarity 0.82)
• Marxist analysis needs both material grounding and historical specificity to avoid twin errors (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously. #expands (0.85)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once #expands (0.85) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371
• Juridico-political ideology masks the economic’s determinant role under capitalism #exemplifies (0.82)
• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy #expands (0.82)
• Economic structures are necessary but not sufficient to explain political and ideological features #qualifies (0.80)
• Capitalist relations must be reproduced ideologically, not just economically #expands (0.80) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 628
• Historical materialism requires retaining economic determination without economic reductionism #expands (0.80)
• The economy can never act detached from political and ideological practices. #qualifies (0.78)
• Politics has relatively autonomous forms requiring study in their own right #qualifies (0.78) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 139
• Intellectual mentality and money economy mutually reinforce each other #expands (0.75)
• An economically displaced class can retain political and intellectual supremacy #qualifies (0.75)
• Schooling matters for hegemony because intellectuals depend on it economically #exemplifies (0.75)