Marxism Reading Group: Ideology or Hegemony?

Marxism is often thought of as a tool for ideological demystification, the “ruthless criticism of all that exists.” However, Marx never produced a systematic theory of ideology in general. It fell to later writers to expand Marx’s views on the topic, asking about the extent to which Marxism was a theory of social consciousness as a whole. In this session, we will discuss the influential theory of ideology by the French philosopher Louis Althusser. (We will also do an in-session reading from Antonio Gramsci!)

Readings:

Althusser, On the Reproduction of Capitalism

Suggested Additional Readings:

• Marx, The German Ideology
• Gramsci, The Prison Notebooks
• Anderson, “The Antinomies of Antonio Gramsci”
• Žižek, The Sublime Object of Ideology

About the Series