Thatcherism’s appeal rested on real material contradictions, not mere false consciousness.

Evidence

But this reading greatly underestimates both the rational core on which these populist constructions are situated, and their real, not false, material basis. Specifically, such a reading neglects the materiality of the contradictions between “the people”—popular needs, interests, desires, and aspirations—on the one hand, and the actual, imposed structures of the interventionist state—the state of the monopoly phase of capitalist development—on the other. “Thatcherism,” far from simply conjuring demons out of the deep, operated directly on the real and manifestly contradictory experience of the popular classes under social-democratic corporatism. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1114

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to Hall’s concept of articulation and hegemony elsewhere — populist politics succeeds by operating on real popular experience rather than mere ideological trickery. — connects to: Thatcherite populism exploited real lived contradictions rather than mere false consciousness.
• ADDENDUM: Relevant background for any essay on how ideology operates through genuine material conditions rather than pure deception.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1114