Q. Discuss the Relationship Between Ideology and Economy from a Marxian View Point.
Q. Discuss the relationship between ideology and economy from a Marxian view point.
A. Marx’s social theory was one of the great intellectual achievements of the 19th century. Marx set out to change the world, as well as to interpret it; and his theoretical analysis of the course of social development, especially in the modern capitalist societies.
This answer aims to bring out the relation between ideology and economy as Marx perceived it, by looking at the ruling class ideology and its effect on society. KARL MARX makes different statements about ideology at different points in his career; however, his most straightforward statement about ideology appears in The German Ideology, which he wrote with Frederick Engels. Ideology itself represents the "production of ideas, of conceptions, of consciousness," all that "men say, imagine, conceive," and include such things as "politics, laws, morality, religion, metaphysics, etc." Ideology functions as the superstructure of a civilization: the conventions and culture that make up the dominant ideas of a society. The "ruling ideas" of a given epoch are, however, those of the ruling class: "The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas; hence of the relationships which make the one class the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of their dominance”.
"The ideas of the ruling class are, in every age, the ruling ideas: i.e. the class which is the dominant material force in society is at the same time the dominant intellectual force." {Karl Marx 1845]
Marx and Engels in their book – the German ideology also made clear the general correlation between the material sphere and the sphere of consciousness. The formulation of consciousness is immensely influenced by the class structure of the society. In their work, they disclosed the class origins of the various forms of consciousness and showed
A. Marx’s social theory was one of the great intellectual achievements of the 19th century. Marx set out to change the world, as well as to interpret it; and his theoretical analysis of the course of social development, especially in the modern capitalist societies.
This answer aims to bring out the relation between ideology and economy as Marx perceived it, by looking at the ruling class ideology and its effect on society. KARL MARX makes different statements about ideology at different points in his career; however, his most straightforward statement about ideology appears in The German Ideology, which he wrote with Frederick Engels. Ideology itself represents the "production of ideas, of conceptions, of consciousness," all that "men say, imagine, conceive," and include such things as "politics, laws, morality, religion, metaphysics, etc." Ideology functions as the superstructure of a civilization: the conventions and culture that make up the dominant ideas of a society. The "ruling ideas" of a given epoch are, however, those of the ruling class: "The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas; hence of the relationships which make the one class the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of their dominance”.
"The ideas of the ruling class are, in every age, the ruling ideas: i.e. the class which is the dominant material force in society is at the same time the dominant intellectual force." {Karl Marx 1845]
Marx and Engels in their book – the German ideology also made clear the general correlation between the material sphere and the sphere of consciousness. The formulation of consciousness is immensely influenced by the class structure of the society. In their work, they disclosed the class origins of the various forms of consciousness and showed