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Week 3 Questions

I felt Althusser’s idea that ideology is dependent upon “the category of the subject and its functioning” connected to our current political turmoil. Concepts of race, gender, and many other identity factors are (very rightfully) being deconstructed in increasingly public ways. I wonder about the relationship between shifts in identity politics and political crisis? Does one always lead to, or necessarily involve, the other? How do these shifts relate to economic shifts? 

In “The Problem with Ideology,” Hall argues that Marx and Engels’ work does not constitute a true ideology, and that today we have a much broader understanding of their writing than the “religious and doctrinal reading” (27). I’m curious about Marxism’s status as a scapegoat today – the term is so fraught with political paranoia that it feels like its meaning has become very unclear. Who today is a true “Marxist”? When is this just used a label used to scare people into further supporting laissez-faire capitalism?

 

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