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ideology
ThewordideologyoriginatesfromtheFrenchwordideologiewhichitselforiginated
fromthecombiningoftheGreekprefixideawhichreferstosomethingthatproduces
ideasorimagesandthesuffixlogy,whichreferstologos,theGreekworddenoting
logic [link] and reason. The term was originally coined during the aftermath of the
FrenchRevolutiontodescribeascienceconsistingofthestudyoftheoriginandnature
of ideas. Today the term ideology is conventionally used derogatively in the political
sphere,aspoliticiansaimtoportraytheiropponentsasoutoftouchideologueswho
govern based on abstract, impracticable principals rather than the will of their
constituencies. The term ideology also brings to mind the competing isms,
capitalism, communism, and fascism, which fought for supremacy throughout the
twentieth century. Since being an ideologue connotes being outoftouch, the term is
traditionallyappliedtopoliticiansoracademics.Theaveragepersonisnotconsidered
beholdentoanideology.

Yet the most common usage of ideology within the critical establishment is the
Marxist conception of the word. First used by Marx in his essay The German
Ideology, ideology is the falseconsciousness which prevents the proletariat from
realizing the material reality of their exploitation by the bourgeoisie. He further
suggests that ideologies are representations of the interests of the ruling class. This
notionofideologyassetoffalsebeliefswhichinhibitthediscoveryofaconcretetruth
(the material reality that the proletariat are exploited by the bourgeoisie) mirrors
Platosmythofthecave,inwhichthepeopletrappedinthecavebelievetheshadowson
the wall opposite them represent reality. While the colloquial usage of the term
ideology would no doubt label Marxism an ideology, the Marxist conception of the
term does not. To a Marxist, Marxism is the true analysis of the conditions of
production,ananalysiswhichideologiesobscure.

ThisMarxistconceptionofthetermisappliedtomediatheorybyMaxHorkheimerand
Theodor Adorno in their essay The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass
Deception. Adorno and Horkheimer argue that the uniformity of works of mass
culture (the televisionand the radio) transmits a cultural ideology which the masses
havenochoicebuttoaccept.Theywrite:

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Freedom to choose an ideologysince ideology always reflects economic

coercion everywhere proves to be freedom to choose what is always the
same.1

Horkheimer and Adorno present this ideology of massculture not as the product of
consumer demand, but something created by the industry in order to create demand
formoreofthesameproducts.Theeffectofthisuniformideologyistoinduceadocile
uniformity in the masses by establishing patterns of speech and behavior which
individuals feel they must conform to in order to avoid feeling like outsiders. It is
importanttonotethatunliketheconventionaldefinitionofideologyasreferringtothe
various isms, Adorno and Horkheimer argue that the culture industry only allows
for the existence of a single ideology for the masses to adopt, any originality in mass
cultureisquicklyadoptedbytheindustryandhomogenized.AdornoandHorkeimers
conceptionofideologyisMarxistinthesensethattheideologyproducedbytheculture
industry does not depict economic reality, it is instead an illusion which creates
demand for the products of capitalism while inhibiting the pluralism and the
independentthoughtwhichcouldspurpoliticalupheaval.

Yet in addition to presenting the uniform content of mass media as the source of
ideology,HorkheimerandAdornoalsonotehowthemediumspecificitiesoftheradio
and television aid in ideological transmission. They note that the radios ability to
transmit a voice everywhere without providing a means of responding to the voice
allows for no dissent, making the speakers words absolute. Likewise, films [link]
abilitytodepicttheimagesofobjectsofdesirewithoutactuallysupplyingthemtothe
massesincreasesconsumerdemand.Inshort,itisnotonlyresponsibilityofthemedia
theoristtostudythecontentofmassmediatodeterminehowideologyistransmitted
hemustalsoconsiderthecharacteristicsofthemediumsthemselvestodeterminehow
ideologiesaretransmittedtothepublic.

In his essay Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses, French philosopher Louis
Althusser Apparatuses further articulates this Marxist conception of ideology.
Althusser begins by differentiating the two mechanisms by which the state ensures

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production:therepressivestateapparatuswhichconsistsofthepolice,thearmy,and
the legal system, and ideological state apparatuses, private institutions (including the
schools, the church, and the mass media) which disseminate beliefs which represent
the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence. Yet
Althusser expands on Marxs definition by suggesting that ideology itself has a
materialexistence.UnlikeAdornoandHorkheimer,whoaccusethecultureindustryof
disseminating a single, uniform ideology, Althusser acknowledges the existence of
multiple ideologies which individuals subscribe to and must constantly navigate. By
this he means that in accepting an ideology, an individuals thoughts and actions
becomegovernedbyit.Heillustratesthisbyexaminingthedualmeaningsoftheword
subject. A subject can signify either someone with agency, but it can also mean one
governedbyahigherpower.Individualagencyisultimatelydictatedbytheideologies
towhichtheysubscribe.

ThisconceptionofthetermisimportanttomediastudiesbecauseAlthusserspecifically
namesthemassmediaasideologicalstateapparatuses.ToanAlthusserian,themedia
functions to disseminate ideology to the masses. Yet all the ISAs are themselves
mediums through which ideologies are transmitted to the individual. For example,
Althusserviewstheeducationalsystemasasortmediumthroughwhichthebourgeois
conceptionoftheindividualafreemandestinedtosucceedifheworkshardenough
istransmittedtofuturegenerationsofworkers.

InCommunicativeCapitalism:TheIdeologicalMatrix,theintroductiontoherbook,
Jodi Dean employs a conception of ideology formulated by Slovenian philosopher
SlavojZizekinhercritiqueofthenewmedia.ToDean(andZizek),ideologiesarenot
Marxistfalseconsciousnesseswhichmustberevealedaslies.Ideologyinsteadconsists
of the beliefs implied by the conforming actions one takes that upholds traditional
culturalinstitutionsregardlessofwhetherheorsheactuallybelievesintheirprincipals.
This Zizekian notion of the term is Althusserian in the sense that ideology is again
presentedasnotmerelyanillusion,ideologiespossessamaterialrealityintheformof
theactionspeopletaketoupholdculturalinstitutions.Deanemploysthisconceptionto
argue against what she sees as a naive depiction of the internet as a site resembling
Habermasspublicsphere.Toher,publicityandthenotionoftheexistenceofaunified
public are the ideologies of the new media. The public fascination with discovering
personalsecretsonlyfuelsaninformationindustryinsteadoffurtheringdemocracy.
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By the Zizekian definition she adopts, the public realizes how publicity functions in
societywhileremaininginitsthrall.Inthiscritique,likethoseofAlthusser,Adornoand
Horkheimer,ideologyistransmittedbythemediaandenablesbothhegemonyandthe
productionofcapitalwhileinhibitingpluralisticthought.

Justasitdoesinconventionalusage,thiscriticalnotionoftheterminMarxistideology
hasanegativeconnotation.Bothusagessuggestthatanideologuesubscribestoabelief
which distances him or her from some actual truth. Yet to the Marxist theorists,
thecommonsensewhichtheconventionaluserbelievesinisitselfideology.Inmedia
studies,ideologyisoftentransmittedthroughthemedia,notintheovertmessagesof
programs themselves, ideological norms are instead established in the practices
repeatedlydepictedasnormalandordinary.ForAdornoandHorkeimer,thisisthe
speech and plot of Hollywood Cinema. To Dean, it is the new medias fixation with
revealingsecretstoafascinatedpublic.Itisthemediatheoristsresponsibilitynotonly
to determine the content of this ideology, but also to determine, as Adorno and
Horkeimer do in their discussion of the respective specificities of the television and
radio,whatcharacteristicsmediahavethatenablethemtotransmuteideologiestothe
public. Zizeks notion of the term raises the issue of ideology as not merely a set of
beliefs, but instead a set of institutionalized practices founded on beliefs which the
subjectmayormaynotactuallyhold.Consquently,themediatheoristshouldconsider
notonlyhowthemediatransmitobviousideologieslikereligionorliberalism,butalso
more subtle ones such as Deans conception of publicity. One issue of critical debate
arises between the number of ideologies which mediums transmit: to Adorno and
Horkimer,thecultureindustrytransmitsasingleideology,whiletoAlthusserandZizek
individualssubscribetonumerousideologiesandmustconstantlynavigatebetweenthe
contradictionsbetweenthem.

MichaelCzolacz

WORKSCITED

Adorno,TheodorW.,Horkheimer,Max.TheCultureIndustry:EnlightenmentasMass
Deception.DialecticofEnlightenment.London:Verso,1979.

Althusser,Louis.IdeologyandideologicalStateApparatuses. Lenin and Philosophy

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andOtherEssays.Trans.BenBrewster.MonthlyReviewPress1971.

Belsey, Catherine. Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford

UniversityPressInc.,2002.

Dean,Jodi.PublicitysSecret:HowTechnocultureCapitalizesonDemocracy. Ithaca:
CornellUniversityPress,2002.

Ideology. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford, England: The Oxford University
Press:2008.30Jan2008

Marx,Karl.TheGermanIdeology.1932.30January2008.

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge,

Massachusetts:TheMITPress,1994.

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