Spurious universal entities are produced by unrepresentative social institutions
Evidence
The disharmony between the individual and the social needs, and the lack of representative institutions in which the individuals work for themselves and speak for themselves, lead to the reality of such universals as the Nation, the Party, the Constitution, the Corporation, the Church—a reality which is not identical with any particular identifiable entity (individual, group, or institution). Such universals express various degrees and modes of reification. Their independence, although real, is a spurious one inasmuch as it is that of particular powers which have organized the whole of society. A retranslation which would dissolve the spurious substance of the universal is still a desideratum—but it is a political desideratum. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 733
Categorization
- XREF: Direct bridge to the attention/consumption economy theme — the reified ‘administered whole’ that cannot be dissolved except politically parallels how media corporations are hypostatized entities. — connects to: Institutions inherently operate by reproducing homogeneity rather than diversity — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 20; Sociology reduces morality to derivative products of non-moral social institutions — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 481; Modern institutions appear as external structures despite being mere effects of practices — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 28 (+6 more)
- DEFINE: Gives a working definition of reification as applied to political universals: independence that is real yet spurious because it masks particular powers.
Broader Connections
- Institutions inherently operate by reproducing homogeneity rather than diversity
#corroborates(0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 20 - Treating social quality as an entity is an arbitrary hypostasis in idealism and religion
#corroborates(0.85) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1656 - Societal requirements transform into self-justifying norms devoid of social origin
#expands(0.80) - Sociology reduces morality to derivative products of non-moral social institutions
#corroborates(0.75) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 481 - Modern institutions appear as external structures despite being mere effects of practices
#expands(0.75) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 28 - Universalistic norms lose force without status-group exclusionary sanctions behind them.
#qualifies(0.75) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 271 - Belief in Western cultural universality is false, immoral, and dangerous
#exemplifies(0.72)