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Pojęcie ideologii jako pojęcie krytyczne
The Concept of Ideology as the Critical Concept

Author(s): Krzysztof Świrek
Subject(s): History, Social Sciences, Cultural history, Sociology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Karl Mannheim; Louis Althusser; Slavoj Žižekideology; Marxism; psychoanalysis

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the significance of the concept of ideology for social sciences.Although this concept was abandoned a long time ago in favour of the more “neutral” terms,due to Marxism and psychoanalysis it returned to social sciences in the second half of the20th century. In the article, I present the concept of Louis Althusser, whose perception ofideological phenomena shifts them from the field of studies on cognitive mistakes andmanipulation towards the socialization theory. I discuss shortly the psychoanalytical sourcesof this concept and point to the sociological tradition where similar concepts and problemscan be found. I use the empirical example to illustrate the consequences of Althusser’s theoryfor understanding ideology, and Slavoj Zizek’s theory to show the ways out of certain impasseof this theory. In the summary, the question returns on the importance of the concept ofideology for social sciences.

  • Issue Year: 458/2017
  • Issue No: 03
  • Page Range: 63-77
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish