Ideology as a category in Marx and the issue of false consciousness

Abstract

This article discusses ideology as a category in Marx’s thought, and the debate around the issue of “false consciousness.” The study is based on Marx’s formulations on alienation and fetishism of the commodity, which allows understanding the notion of ideology as a category. The article exposes an approximation of this issue with the current debate in the Marxist tradition, presenting contemporary authors who worked on the subject, explaining analytical controversies that imply in the question of whether ideology should be understood only in its negative sense, such as “false consciousness,” or also in a broader sense, considering the formulations of the field – which criticize the dominant ideology – as positively ideological, pointing to the overcoming of the capitalist mode of production. The result of this study highlights the importance of understanding ideology in its negative sense, considering the centrality of the dimension of “false consciousness,” as long as it is understood in a dialectical perspective, as an inverted consciousness of a society that presents itself in an inverted way.