The theory of ideology must hold both relative autonomy and economic determination simultaneously.

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; Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371; Capitalist relations must be reproduced ideologically, not just economically — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 628 (+10 more)

Related

• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy (similarity 0.93)
• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once (similarity 0.92)
• Political and intellectual action is the true expression of economic necessity (similarity 0.92)
• Superstructures may require relative autonomy to function at advanced capitalist stages. (similarity 0.91)
• The core problem is reconciling economic determination with superstructural autonomy (similarity 0.91)
• Economic structures are necessary but not sufficient to explain political and ideological features (similarity 0.91)
• Economic determinacy operates through overdetermination, not simple mechanical causation (similarity 0.91)
• Marxism is not economic reductionism and requires attending to ideas in their own terms (similarity 0.89)
• Marxism conceives society as overdetermined relatively autonomous levels, not a simple unity (similarity 0.88)
• Marxism reads social formations as overdetermined unities with relatively autonomous levels (similarity 0.87)
• Attending seriously to religious ideology saved Hill’s Marxism from economic reductionism (similarity 0.86)
• Modes of determination allow ideological superstructures more than a residual role (similarity 0.86)
• The Second International enshrined reductive economic determinism as official Marxism (similarity 0.86)
• Marxist analysis needs both material grounding and historical specificity to avoid twin errors (similarity 0.85)
• Individual and social liberation must be waged together but not assumed interdependent (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Marxist theory requires holding both relative autonomy and economic determinacy at once #corroborates (0.95) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 371
• Marxism must hold determination in the last instance without falling into absolute autonomy #corroborates (0.90)
• Modes of determination allow ideological superstructures more than a residual role #expands (0.70)
• Ideologies connect to subjects through contingent, breakable articulations rather than necessity #expands (0.65)
• Capitalist relations must be reproduced ideologically, not just economically #expands (0.60) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 628
• Juridico-political ideology masks the economic’s determinant role under capitalism #expands (0.60)
• Capitalist production relations are reproduced socially and ideologically, not just economically #expands (0.60)
• Articulation is a non-necessary linkage connecting ideology to social forces under specific conditions #expands (0.60)
• Ideology’s imaginary relation serves expanded reproduction of capitalism, not just class dominance. #expands (0.55) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 195
• Ideology’s imaginary relation functions to reproduce capitalist production relations #expands (0.55) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 195