The core problem is reconciling economic determination with superstructural autonomy

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: Economic determination acts by setting limits rather than predicting specific outcomes; The mode of surplus extraction reveals the hidden foundation of the entire social edifice; Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371 (+15 more)

Related

• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy (similarity 0.91)
• The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously. (similarity 0.91)
• Economic determinacy operates through overdetermination, not simple mechanical causation (similarity 0.91)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once (similarity 0.90)
• Economic structures are necessary but not sufficient to explain political and ideological features (similarity 0.90)
• Superstructures may require relative autonomy to function at advanced capitalist stages. (similarity 0.90)
• Marxism is not economic reductionism and requires attending to ideas in their own terms (similarity 0.90)
• The Second International enshrined reductive economic determinism as official Marxism (similarity 0.87)
• Marxism reads social formations as overdetermined unities with relatively autonomous levels (similarity 0.86)
• Attending seriously to religious ideology saved Hill’s Marxism from economic reductionism (similarity 0.86)
• Marxism conceives society as overdetermined relatively autonomous levels, not a simple unity (similarity 0.85)
• Political and intellectual action is the true expression of economic necessity (similarity 0.85)
• Historical materialism requires retaining economic determination without economic reductionism (similarity 0.84)
• Althusser formalized the core problem as economic determination coexisting with superstructural autonomy. (similarity 0.82)
• Modes of determination allow ideological superstructures more than a residual role (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once #corroborates (1.00) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371
• Historical materialism requires retaining economic determination without economic reductionism #corroborates (0.95)
• The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously. #corroborates (0.95)
• Economic determinacy operates through overdetermination, not simple mechanical causation #expands (0.85)
• Economic structures are necessary but not sufficient to explain political and ideological features #expands (0.85)
• Economic level is necessary but not sufficient for explaining other levels #expands (0.80)
• Superstructures may require relative autonomy to function at advanced capitalist stages. #expands (0.80)
• A new Marxist paradigm seeks to overcome economism and reductionism #expands (0.80)
• Economic-reductionist cultural theory stays trapped at an epochal level of abstraction #qualifies (0.70)
• Marx overemphasized economics while neglecting power and technical detail #complicates (0.60) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 2847
• The Second International enshrined reductive economic determinism as official Marxism #complicates (0.60)