The masses hold a contradictory consciousness that can produce political passivity

Evidence

The active man-in-the-mass has a practical activity, bat has no clear theoretical consciousness of his practical activity, which nonetheless involves understanding the world in so far as it transforms it. 403 His theoretical consciousness can indeed be historically in opposition to his activity. One might almost say that he has two theoretical consciousnesses (or one contradictory consciousness): one which is implicit in his activity and which in reality unites him with all his fellow-workers in the practical transformation of the real world; and one, superficially explicit or verbal, which he has inherited from the past and uncritically absorbed. But this verbal conception is not without consequences. It holds together a specific social group, it influences moral conduct and the direction of will, with varying efficacity but often powerfully enough to produce a situation in which the contradictory state of consciousness does not permit of any action, any decision or any choice, and produces a condition of moral and political passivity. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1199

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes Gramsci’s core concept of contradictory consciousness: practical activity vs. inherited verbal conception of the world, and how it paralyzes action.
• XREF: The two-consciousnesses split prefigures the later Islamophobia readings on how colonial subjects/workers absorb hegemonic ideology while their practice resists it. — connects to: People rationalize political non-involvement through differing accepted explanations. — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”: The work of avoiding…, 60; Postmodern ironic distance from visionary engagement can secretly reproduce political quietism. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, 609; Consciousness-raising theorists held that democratic citizens act irrationally and need awareness to resist exploitation — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 101 (+1 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: This is the foundational mechanism tying consciousness, ideology, and political agency into one analytical instrument — top-tier Gramsci.