Superstructures may require relative autonomy to function at advanced capitalist stages.

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 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The core problem is reconciling economic determination with superstructural autonomy; Capitalism’s reproduction requires family, education, and media apparatuses; Transforming capitalist society requires understanding its opaque base and superstructures (+4 more)

Related

• The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously. (similarity 0.91)
• The core problem is reconciling economic determination with superstructural autonomy (similarity 0.90)
• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy (similarity 0.89)
• Economic structures are necessary but not sufficient to explain political and ideological features (similarity 0.89)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once (similarity 0.88)
• Marxism reads social formations as overdetermined unities with relatively autonomous levels (similarity 0.87)
• Marxism conceives society as overdetermined relatively autonomous levels, not a simple unity (similarity 0.87)
• Later Marx saw superstructures as relatively autonomous rather than mechanically determined (similarity 0.86)
• Economic determinacy operates through overdetermination, not simple mechanical causation (similarity 0.86)
• Base and superstructure relate through non-immediate, relative autonomy rather than direct correspondence (similarity 0.85)
• Marxism is not economic reductionism and requires attending to ideas in their own terms (similarity 0.84)
• Political and intellectual action is the true expression of economic necessity (similarity 0.84)
• Society operates as a complex formation structured in dominance with relative institutional autonomy (similarity 0.84)
• Marx’s superstructures are determined yet fundamentally necessary, not empty illusions. (similarity 0.83)
• Economic base determines superstructures by setting limits, not by specifying their content (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Society operates as a complex formation structured in dominance with relative institutional autonomy #expands (0.85)
• Modes of determination allow ideological superstructures more than a residual role #corroborates (0.80)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once #corroborates (0.75) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371