The Question of Ideology in Marxism (110518)
Χρυσούλα Μητσοπούλου
The issue of “ideology” in Marxist theory 110518
The course deals with certain landmarks in the history of the concept of “ideology”, focusing on basic moments in its discussion within the Marxian thought and more broadly the Marxist theoretical tradition. It provides an analysis of the multiple meanings of the concept within this tradition and attempts to chart its various definitions, putting emphasis on the difference between a broad-neutral and a more narrow-negative conception of ideology. It addresses certain nodal questions arising in the relevant discussion: the relationship between ideology and science, the specificity of ideology vis-a-vis other forms of social consciousness (worldview, religion, philosophy), the questioning of the treatment of ideology as a “system of ideas”, the notion of the “ruling ideology”, the historical character of the nature and function of ideology, the proclamation of the “end of ideology” as a form of ideology par excellence.
During the two first weeks, the meetings have an introductory character, providing an outline of questions regarding the concept under discussion. They also provide a rough outline of the answers given to these questions, hence also of the various approaches to the concept, while emphasis is also given to the everyday uses of the notion of “ideology” and their ideological dimensions. Moreover, reference is made to the questioning of the unity of the Marxist theoretical tradition itself.
The third meeting concerns the analysis of the birth of the term “ideology” in the context of the Enlightenment and the Ideologues.
The fourth and the fifth meetings deal with the nuances of the concept in the Marxian thought, namely in The German Ideology, the “Preface” to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, and The Capital.
The sixth meeting refers to the process of the “neutralization” of the concept within the 3th International, and mainly in the thought of V. Lenin
The seventh and the eighth meeting discuss the approach of Georg Lukacs and the conception of ideology as “class consciousness” in close relationship to the concept of “reification”.
The ninth and tenth meetings discuss the contribution of Antonio Gramsci, and thus they analyse the correlation of “ideology” to the concept of “hegemony” and the idea of “common sense”.
The eleventh and twelfth meetings deal with the approach of Louis Althusser, and his idea of the “epistemological break”, his self-criticism on this, as well the correlation of his conception of ideology to “theoretical anti-humanism”. It also discusses his conceptualization of ideology in the context of a “materialism of the superstructure”.
In the last meeting we summarise the contents of the course and attempt its overall assessment
Bibliography
a. Sources
-Althusser, L. , Reading “Capital”, New Left Books, London 1970
----------------For Marx, New Left Books, London 1977
----------------, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses”, in Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, New Left Books, New York and London 1971
-Gramsci, A. , Selections from the “Prison Notebooks”, Lawrence and Wishart, London 1971
-Lukacs, G, History and Class Consciousness, Merlin Press, London 1967
-Marx, K and Engels, F., The German Ideology, Part I, Lawrence and Wishart, London 1970
-Marx, K. “Preface” to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977
------------, Capital, vol. I, Lawrence and Wishart, London 1974
b. Secondary Bibliography
-Eagleton, T. , Ideology: An Introduction, Verso,New York 1991
-Eagleton T. (ed) Ideology , Longman, London and New York, 1994
-Laclau, E., Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory, New left Books, London 1977
-Larrain, J. , The Concept of Ideology, University of Georgia Press, 1979
-Larrain, J., Marxism and Ideology, The Macmillan Press, London 1983
-Rechmann, J, Theories of Ideology- The Powers of Alienation and Subjection, Brill, Leiden,Boston 2013
-Zizek, Sl. (ed) , Mapping Ideology, Verso , London and New York 1994
You can find more info about the specific pages of the sources we will focus on in the "announcements"
The textbook suggested for the course is Eagleton's, Ideology. An Introduction. You can find it online in the link I give you (see announcements)
The assignments , which do not necessarily mean that one does not have to participate in the final exams, can have the form:
-translation into english and presentation of a short study/article on the problem
-presentation of a certain subject through the juxtaposition of texts addressing it
-short presentation of a viewpoint which will not be discussed in the course e.g. Frankfurt School. Lefebvre, Foucault, Bourdieu
Examples of subjects for assignments
-The "end of ideology" thesis
-The questioning of the "dominant ideology thesis"
-The transition from a "negative" to a 'neutral" conception of ideology within Marxism
-Mannheim's critique of the Marxian theory of ideology
-The Marxian critique of religion and its relevance to the critique of ideology
-The postmodern questioning of the concept of ideology
Less
The issue of “ideology” in Marxist theory 110518
The course deals with certain landmarks in the history of the concept of “ideology”, focusing on basic moments in its discussion within the Marxian thought and more broadly the Marxist theoretical tradition. It provides an analysis of the multiple meanings of the concept within this tradition and attempts to chart its various definitions, putting emphasis on the difference between a broad-neutral and a more narrow-negative conception of ideology. It addresses certain nodal questions arising in the relevant discussion: the relationship between ideology and science, the specificity of ideology vis-a-vis other forms of social consciousness (worldview, religion, philosophy), the questioning of the treatment of ideology as a “system of ideas”, the notion of the “ruling ideology”, the historical character of the nature and function of ideology, the proclamation of the “end of ideology” as a form of ideology par excellence.
During the tw
The issue of “ideology” in Marxist theory 110518
The course deals with certain landmarks in the history of the concept of “ideology”, focusing on basic moments in its discussion within the Marxian thought and more broadly the Marxist theoretical tradition. It provides an analysis of the multiple meanings of the concept within this tradition and attempts to chart its various definitions, putting emphasis on the difference between a broad-neutral and a more narrow-negative conception of ideology. It addresses certain nodal questions arising in the relevant discussion: the relationship between ideology and science, the specificity of ideology vis-a-vis other forms of social consciousness (worldview, religion, philosophy), the questioning of the treatment of ideology as a “system of ideas”, the notion of the “ruling ideology”, the historical character of the nature and function of ideology, the proclamation of the “end of ideology” as a form of ideology par excellence.
During the tw
