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The Ideology of Power and the Power of Ideology
Few concepts have been so intensively discussed or so widely sponsored as that of “ideology.” Whether read as the expression of social classes or attributed a material independence and efficacy, whether devalued as false and non-scientific or asserted as the necessary element of social practice, “ideology” has become an ineluctable conceptual reference across a range of works dealing with subjects as varied as science and politics, gender and cultural production.
In this book, Göran Therborn makes a decisive contribution to the contemporary debate. Beginning with some critical reflections on Louis Althusser’s influential writings in the late sixties, Therborn develops a theory of the formation of human subjects. He then goes on to consider the material matrix of ideologies and the problem of ideological change, the ideological constitution of classes and the characteristics of the discursive order that regulates it. Turning to questions of state power and political struggle, Therborn provides a remarkable account of ideological domination that displaces traditional categories, and a fascinating analysis of the process of political mobilization.
Brief yet wide ranging, probing yet succinct, The Ideology of Power and the Power of Ideology is a work of theoretical exploration that establishes new bearings for the current discussion of ideology.
In this book, Göran Therborn makes a decisive contribution to the contemporary debate. Beginning with some critical reflections on Louis Althusser’s influential writings in the late sixties, Therborn develops a theory of the formation of human subjects. He then goes on to consider the material matrix of ideologies and the problem of ideological change, the ideological constitution of classes and the characteristics of the discursive order that regulates it. Turning to questions of state power and political struggle, Therborn provides a remarkable account of ideological domination that displaces traditional categories, and a fascinating analysis of the process of political mobilization.
Brief yet wide ranging, probing yet succinct, The Ideology of Power and the Power of Ideology is a work of theoretical exploration that establishes new bearings for the current discussion of ideology.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Göran Therborn
52 books48 followersGöran Therborn is a professor of sociology at Cambridge University and is amongst the most highly cited contemporary Marxian-influenced sociologists. He has published widely in journals such as the New Left Review, and is notable for his writing on topics that fall within the general political and sociological framework of post-Marxism. Topics on which he has written extensively include the intersection between the class structure of society and the function of the state apparatus, the formation of ideology within subjects, and the future of the Marxist tradition.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 12, 2021
"Ideology" has in common with "neoliberal" and "shoegaze" that careless overuse has eroded the term's meaning to the point of uselessness. Is it worth salvaging? Therborn makes that case in just 120 clear-headed, sophisticated pages, and granted me the pleasure of awarding my first 5-star review of 2021.
Within the marxist analytical framework, nothing can ever be perceived pure and simple -- it is always mediated by the worldview through which individuals understand the world, itself informed by its historical epoch, their practical doings and class position. "The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living" applies to history itself, but just as much to the structure of our consciousness. That mediating layer is "ideology". So far, so good. Even within "non-ideological" works such as Capital a lot can be gleaned from observing Marx's comments on Smith, Sismondi, etc, and their respective ideological biases.
Somewhere down the line a vile man by the name of Nicos Poulantzas and his henchman Louis Althusser got their hands on ideology and turned it into a structuralist nightmare. Ideology is everywhere, there's state apparatuses beaming it out into our brains, abstractions self-replicate and outgrow their material roots. Althusser in particular (if I recall correctly) made a big show of modes of production needing to reproduce themselves ideologically to justify their existence towards those it rewards and oppresses. It's an intentionalist reading, but with the agency not residing within actors but within the abstraction of the social relations between them. Good luck combating that.
Therborn cuts through half a century of analytical hypertrophy and goes back to basics. Luckily, this doesn't entail reinterpreting any specific original marxist luminary, but by restoring proper historical-materialist causality. Ideology plays at many levels: class determines the occupations and hence living conditions and aspirations available to its members; those occupations set the coordinates for consciousness and behaviour that will be either rewarded or sanctioned. These rewards and sanctions are themselves pre-ideological: there's no ideological state apparatus casting brain waves into entrepreneurs heads making them believe in self-sufficiency and cut-throat competition; that's the lesson they're taught by day-to-day successes and failures in their businesses. People don't need to be brainwashed into believing capitalism works: they believe it to the extent that it does work, and because any alternative is unimaginable not just in theory but because no practical pathway to it is evident. Better to hone your survival skills (=ideology) in an unpleasant but real world than to risk everything for a dream.
This materialist reading of ideology (which Therborn develops much more in the book than I can share here) is so refreshing because it is always pointing towards the plight of marxists (organize the classes to make class consciousness make sense) rather than wallowing in structuralist despair (I guess everything conspired against the Good Ideology until people strayed from it and now we're stuck in Capitalist Realism). There are for sure conspiratorial aspects to ideology, especially if we consider mass media. However, mass culture is still an epiphenomenon that can only potentially latch onto the bedrock of the ideology of everyday life, and the arena of wage labour and social distribution of goods and services is its achilles' heel. Socialist organisations can, by winning victories within this arena, make socialism make sense, through practice and material affirmation. Everything is downstream from there.
Academics, one could say, are ideologically predisposed towards turning this all upside down by making the conscious production and study of ideas the cause of change. For some reason, Göran Therborn betrayed his intellectual environment and restored ideology to its proper position. Aspects of an ideology will only survive to the degree that material processes allow it, but material processes themselves can easily displace disagreeing ideologies by sapping their practical basis. A marvelous book that I will probably return to a lot more.
Within the marxist analytical framework, nothing can ever be perceived pure and simple -- it is always mediated by the worldview through which individuals understand the world, itself informed by its historical epoch, their practical doings and class position. "The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living" applies to history itself, but just as much to the structure of our consciousness. That mediating layer is "ideology". So far, so good. Even within "non-ideological" works such as Capital a lot can be gleaned from observing Marx's comments on Smith, Sismondi, etc, and their respective ideological biases.
Somewhere down the line a vile man by the name of Nicos Poulantzas and his henchman Louis Althusser got their hands on ideology and turned it into a structuralist nightmare. Ideology is everywhere, there's state apparatuses beaming it out into our brains, abstractions self-replicate and outgrow their material roots. Althusser in particular (if I recall correctly) made a big show of modes of production needing to reproduce themselves ideologically to justify their existence towards those it rewards and oppresses. It's an intentionalist reading, but with the agency not residing within actors but within the abstraction of the social relations between them. Good luck combating that.
Therborn cuts through half a century of analytical hypertrophy and goes back to basics. Luckily, this doesn't entail reinterpreting any specific original marxist luminary, but by restoring proper historical-materialist causality. Ideology plays at many levels: class determines the occupations and hence living conditions and aspirations available to its members; those occupations set the coordinates for consciousness and behaviour that will be either rewarded or sanctioned. These rewards and sanctions are themselves pre-ideological: there's no ideological state apparatus casting brain waves into entrepreneurs heads making them believe in self-sufficiency and cut-throat competition; that's the lesson they're taught by day-to-day successes and failures in their businesses. People don't need to be brainwashed into believing capitalism works: they believe it to the extent that it does work, and because any alternative is unimaginable not just in theory but because no practical pathway to it is evident. Better to hone your survival skills (=ideology) in an unpleasant but real world than to risk everything for a dream.
This materialist reading of ideology (which Therborn develops much more in the book than I can share here) is so refreshing because it is always pointing towards the plight of marxists (organize the classes to make class consciousness make sense) rather than wallowing in structuralist despair (I guess everything conspired against the Good Ideology until people strayed from it and now we're stuck in Capitalist Realism). There are for sure conspiratorial aspects to ideology, especially if we consider mass media. However, mass culture is still an epiphenomenon that can only potentially latch onto the bedrock of the ideology of everyday life, and the arena of wage labour and social distribution of goods and services is its achilles' heel. Socialist organisations can, by winning victories within this arena, make socialism make sense, through practice and material affirmation. Everything is downstream from there.
Academics, one could say, are ideologically predisposed towards turning this all upside down by making the conscious production and study of ideas the cause of change. For some reason, Göran Therborn betrayed his intellectual environment and restored ideology to its proper position. Aspects of an ideology will only survive to the degree that material processes allow it, but material processes themselves can easily displace disagreeing ideologies by sapping their practical basis. A marvelous book that I will probably return to a lot more.
September 25, 2025
İsmi az duyulan bir entelektüel son derece mütevazı bir tarzda 11.tezi, yani pratiğin felsefesini yazıya dökmüş; abartmadan, alttan almadan, özüne saygıyı bırakmadan
*
İnsanlar kapitalizm işe yaradığı için ona inanıyorlar, sadece beyinleri yıkandığı için değil; herhangi bir alternatifin pratikte de belirgin olmaması nedeniyle de buna devam ediyorlar.
Çünkü hayatta kalma becerilerini (ideolojilerini) hoş olmayan ama gerçek bir dünyada sürdürmek, bir rüya uğruna her şeyi riske atmalarından daha mantıklı geliyor.
Sol, halk için ortak bir gündem ortaya koymalı, yani bunalımın egemen yönünü, kötülüğün özünü anlatmalı; olması gereken hedefi, neyin olanaklı ve nasıl başarılabileceğini tanımlamalıdır.
Ücretli emek ile mal ve hizmetlerin toplumsal dağılımı alanı, onun en zayıf noktasıdır ve sosyalist örgütler, bu alanda zaferler kazanarak, pratik ve maddi doğrulama yoluyla sosyalizmi mantıklı hale getirebilirler.
*
İnsanlar kapitalizm işe yaradığı için ona inanıyorlar, sadece beyinleri yıkandığı için değil; herhangi bir alternatifin pratikte de belirgin olmaması nedeniyle de buna devam ediyorlar.
Çünkü hayatta kalma becerilerini (ideolojilerini) hoş olmayan ama gerçek bir dünyada sürdürmek, bir rüya uğruna her şeyi riske atmalarından daha mantıklı geliyor.
Sol, halk için ortak bir gündem ortaya koymalı, yani bunalımın egemen yönünü, kötülüğün özünü anlatmalı; olması gereken hedefi, neyin olanaklı ve nasıl başarılabileceğini tanımlamalıdır.
Ücretli emek ile mal ve hizmetlerin toplumsal dağılımı alanı, onun en zayıf noktasıdır ve sosyalist örgütler, bu alanda zaferler kazanarak, pratik ve maddi doğrulama yoluyla sosyalizmi mantıklı hale getirebilirler.
October 4, 2017
Clear, concise, and insightful overview and reworking of the Marxist problematic of ideology.
October 10, 2015
'Ideology' being "that aspect of the human condition under which human beings live their lives as conscious actors in a world that makes sense to them to varying degrees." How can we explain the prevalence of particular ways of thinking about the world at different periods of time? Where do different simultaneously existing ideologies stand in relationship to each other? Do they produce conflict or subordination, or both? Are systems of thought which work to produce a rupture with the ideologies of everyday life ideologies at all? Does the fact that science, law, philosophy and art follow lines of logic and reasoning which are often disruptive to the 'commonsense' of everyday life mean that they are elevated to the status of non-ideologies? Where does all this stand in relation to the distribution of power across society.
Therborn's short book (he calls it an 'essay') does an invaluable job in summarising the state of sociological and marxist thought on these issues during the a decade when the debate about ideology raged across the academy. As was inevitable at that time, the wrestles with the ideas of Althusser and his concern to ascribe to ideology the organisation of power across society and the dominant/subordinate status of classes through the operation of 'ideological state apparatus'. Therborn is sceptical with regard to the status of these 'ISA' in accounting for the shape and form of the ideologies that ascribe the rulers and the ruled to their respective places in society.
His preference is to unpick the social forces that cement classes in place in specific types of society. For example, under feudalism the relationship between peasant and landholder was defined not just by the obligation of the former to provider labour to the latter, but also the obligation of the feudal aristocracy to reciprocate through services which would underpin the security and welfare of the peasant community. Class struggle under feudalism therefore took the form of disputes over the correct balance of these reciprocal obligations.
Under capitalism class relations revolve around the buying and selling of labour power, at optimal efficiency through the conditions of the market. To do this the worker has to acquire some sense of the value of the commodity she is selling - ie her capacity to expend energy as a producer of useful things - and such consciousness has a tendency to conflict with the assessment made of such value made by the purchaser. The germ of proletarian class consciousness is nurtured by the fundamental facts of this relationship. Further, the worker with emerging class consciousness will note the fact that others in her position are more numerous than the purchasers of labour power, and that solidarity by thought and action an improved return on the value of her labour power will be achieved.
But the ideological form of these class struggles does not determine their outcome. What seems to be required for the emergence of revolutionary situations are shocks which might be considered external to the relations of power which revolve around the buying and selling of labour. Economic crises and ruptures in the operation of purely political regimes create the conditions in which class consciousness at the level of the buying and selling of labour can rise to become a contest over the larger direction of society.
So, a dip into the debates which raged thirty years ago can play a useful role in sorting out thoughts on where we stand at this point in time. To what extent are the conditions in which labour power is bought and sold today - with the large element of the value of the social wage supported through social welfare systems - still capable of generating class consciousness? Does the legal and structural form of the labour market encourage the idea that solidarity is critical to the well-being of workers? If the austerity which neoliberalism is demanding from advanced industrial societies continues to prove so corrosive to the welfare state then will the dynamics of political consciousness once again be driven by the sense of class injustice? Much to think about and a lot to play for.....
Therborn's short book (he calls it an 'essay') does an invaluable job in summarising the state of sociological and marxist thought on these issues during the a decade when the debate about ideology raged across the academy. As was inevitable at that time, the wrestles with the ideas of Althusser and his concern to ascribe to ideology the organisation of power across society and the dominant/subordinate status of classes through the operation of 'ideological state apparatus'. Therborn is sceptical with regard to the status of these 'ISA' in accounting for the shape and form of the ideologies that ascribe the rulers and the ruled to their respective places in society.
His preference is to unpick the social forces that cement classes in place in specific types of society. For example, under feudalism the relationship between peasant and landholder was defined not just by the obligation of the former to provider labour to the latter, but also the obligation of the feudal aristocracy to reciprocate through services which would underpin the security and welfare of the peasant community. Class struggle under feudalism therefore took the form of disputes over the correct balance of these reciprocal obligations.
Under capitalism class relations revolve around the buying and selling of labour power, at optimal efficiency through the conditions of the market. To do this the worker has to acquire some sense of the value of the commodity she is selling - ie her capacity to expend energy as a producer of useful things - and such consciousness has a tendency to conflict with the assessment made of such value made by the purchaser. The germ of proletarian class consciousness is nurtured by the fundamental facts of this relationship. Further, the worker with emerging class consciousness will note the fact that others in her position are more numerous than the purchasers of labour power, and that solidarity by thought and action an improved return on the value of her labour power will be achieved.
But the ideological form of these class struggles does not determine their outcome. What seems to be required for the emergence of revolutionary situations are shocks which might be considered external to the relations of power which revolve around the buying and selling of labour. Economic crises and ruptures in the operation of purely political regimes create the conditions in which class consciousness at the level of the buying and selling of labour can rise to become a contest over the larger direction of society.
So, a dip into the debates which raged thirty years ago can play a useful role in sorting out thoughts on where we stand at this point in time. To what extent are the conditions in which labour power is bought and sold today - with the large element of the value of the social wage supported through social welfare systems - still capable of generating class consciousness? Does the legal and structural form of the labour market encourage the idea that solidarity is critical to the well-being of workers? If the austerity which neoliberalism is demanding from advanced industrial societies continues to prove so corrosive to the welfare state then will the dynamics of political consciousness once again be driven by the sense of class injustice? Much to think about and a lot to play for.....
January 29, 2026
Een heel theoretisch en abstract inzicht in het concept van "ideologie". Er wordt succesvol verder gebouwd op wat Louis Althusser heeft ontwikkeld. Een boek uit 1980 dat in de huidige geo-politieke context brandend actueel is. Het biedt heel wat kapstokken om te zien wat er 'echt' gebeurt in onze maatschappij.
Het belang van een Europa dat eendrachtiger wordt alsook krachtdadiger om onze waarden en normen te vrijwaren wordt heel duidelijk. Ook het besef dat we niet 'heiliger dan de paus' moeten zijn om wat ons na aan het hart ligt met de grootste kans op slagen te vrijwaren.
Het belang van een Europa dat eendrachtiger wordt alsook krachtdadiger om onze waarden en normen te vrijwaren wordt heel duidelijk. Ook het besef dat we niet 'heiliger dan de paus' moeten zijn om wat ons na aan het hart ligt met de grootste kans op slagen te vrijwaren.
June 9, 2025
Gortdroog, maar inhoudelijk interessant
August 21, 2014
The Ideology of Power and the Power of Ideology is an excellent survey of the material practices and influences of ideology within society, from topics like Dialectical Materialism of Ideologies to the Ideological Constitution of Classes. I read, took notes, and wrote a review of this book within a 6 hour span, broken up only by two short caffeine/carbohydrate binges.
Therborn tackles quite an extensive array of topics in an unusually brief performance-merely 125 pages. Yet his prose never becomes perfunctory or even that dry-although it should be noted that his writing is far from the exciting verbosity and brilliant flourish of Deleuze and Žižek. Additionally, it should be noted that little of Therborn's work hasn't already been written about. Instead, it's Therborn's analytic abilities within a salient compilation that make The Ideology of Power and Power of Ideology a worthwhile read.
Therborn establishes the normative expectations for various social roles from Althusser's Ideological Interpellation. He then coins what he refers to as the "ideological dimensions of Human Subjectivity," which are: Inclusive-Existential Ideology, Inclusive-Historical Ideology, Positional-Existential Ideology, and Historical-Positional Ideology. These four terms are used throughout his piece and are the subjects of various theoretical models. For example, he writes extensively about how ideologies operate in the material matrix of affirmatives and sanctions by illustrating the applications of it within supranatural-ideology, ie religion. He asserts that religion provides believers answers to existential questions and explanations for historical origins as well as a reward for subscribing to the "true" knowledge of what governs the world, ie heaven.
Another interesting-and possibly original-argument that he makes is that Positional-Existential and Positional-Historical Ideologies have dual natures. They are on one hand an ego-ideology with their respective central tenets, but on the other, an alter-ideology of whatever the dialectic or opposition possesses. For example, within Positional-Existential, male-chauvinist sexist ideology is an ego-ideology of maleness as well as an alter-ideology of femaleness. Or, within Positional Historical, the ideology of the bourgeoise has an ego-ideology of itself and an alter-ideology of dominating or striving to dominate the formation of class subjects. He also claims that isolated-primitive communities did not have dual-nature but were limited to ego-ideologies. What these primitive societies didn't know was deemed "chaos" or "nothingess." So, it could be asserted that ego duality is a feature of more "developed" societies.
Therborn also makes an oustanding attack on the "Problems in Political Theory" of legitamacy, consent, and class consciousness by citing that the theory is idealist, simplistic, a subjetivist conception based on faulty premises, and ultimately a theory rooted exclusively in the parameters of Bourgeoise Revolution.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a thought-provoking and succinct, yet abbreviated, overview of ideology.
Therborn tackles quite an extensive array of topics in an unusually brief performance-merely 125 pages. Yet his prose never becomes perfunctory or even that dry-although it should be noted that his writing is far from the exciting verbosity and brilliant flourish of Deleuze and Žižek. Additionally, it should be noted that little of Therborn's work hasn't already been written about. Instead, it's Therborn's analytic abilities within a salient compilation that make The Ideology of Power and Power of Ideology a worthwhile read.
Therborn establishes the normative expectations for various social roles from Althusser's Ideological Interpellation. He then coins what he refers to as the "ideological dimensions of Human Subjectivity," which are: Inclusive-Existential Ideology, Inclusive-Historical Ideology, Positional-Existential Ideology, and Historical-Positional Ideology. These four terms are used throughout his piece and are the subjects of various theoretical models. For example, he writes extensively about how ideologies operate in the material matrix of affirmatives and sanctions by illustrating the applications of it within supranatural-ideology, ie religion. He asserts that religion provides believers answers to existential questions and explanations for historical origins as well as a reward for subscribing to the "true" knowledge of what governs the world, ie heaven.
Another interesting-and possibly original-argument that he makes is that Positional-Existential and Positional-Historical Ideologies have dual natures. They are on one hand an ego-ideology with their respective central tenets, but on the other, an alter-ideology of whatever the dialectic or opposition possesses. For example, within Positional-Existential, male-chauvinist sexist ideology is an ego-ideology of maleness as well as an alter-ideology of femaleness. Or, within Positional Historical, the ideology of the bourgeoise has an ego-ideology of itself and an alter-ideology of dominating or striving to dominate the formation of class subjects. He also claims that isolated-primitive communities did not have dual-nature but were limited to ego-ideologies. What these primitive societies didn't know was deemed "chaos" or "nothingess." So, it could be asserted that ego duality is a feature of more "developed" societies.
Therborn also makes an oustanding attack on the "Problems in Political Theory" of legitamacy, consent, and class consciousness by citing that the theory is idealist, simplistic, a subjetivist conception based on faulty premises, and ultimately a theory rooted exclusively in the parameters of Bourgeoise Revolution.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a thought-provoking and succinct, yet abbreviated, overview of ideology.
May 6, 2009
This book really is dry...the intention is well-meaning, but just impossible to finish properly right now.
So I moved on to Minima Moralia with chapters like "Johnny-head-in-air", "Knackery", "The truth about Hedda Gabler" and "More haste, less speed". Should be mind-hurting but entertaining at least...
So I moved on to Minima Moralia with chapters like "Johnny-head-in-air", "Knackery", "The truth about Hedda Gabler" and "More haste, less speed". Should be mind-hurting but entertaining at least...
August 21, 2008
Really analytic and dry - sometimes there is an interesting idea, but hard to write about out of context. A lot of defining terms, constructing charts, etc. His constant critique and praise of Althusser, Gramschi, and Weber is certainly inspiring my future reading list.
September 9, 2016
read this book in your lifetime. a whole world of information in what amounts to a long essay. a floodlight shone over the inner working of and relations between belief systems and how those systems perpetuate and remove power.
July 22, 2025
Konuyu son derece ilgi çekici bulmama rağmen akıcı ve keyifli bir okuma deneyimi yaşayamadım. Altını çizmeye değer cümleye rastlayamadım. Burada bir eksiklik veya kusur varsa onu kendimde buluyorum bir taraftan: ⭐⭐ (dolaylı yoldan) kendime.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews