Ideology

From MarxWiki

Defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as: 1: visionary theorizing 2: a: a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture b: a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture c: the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program

For Louis Althusser, ideology (in the Marxist sense of the word) is `the system of ideas and representations which dominate the mind of a man or a social group.` According to Althusser, ideology has no history; ideologies in particular have history, but ideology as a concept does not. Likewise, ideology `is a 'representation of the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existance.` For example, the American steel worker is placed in a position of reverence within American ideology, whereas the actual steel worker is mistreated, underpaid, and alienated from his work. Ideology is perpetuated by the Repressive State Apparatus and Ideological State Apparatuses and is inescapable, according to Althusser.

Please see Ideological for an alternate definition.