According to Althusser, ideology is a “representation of the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence”. Ideology functions to reproduce the existing social relations of production, by shaping individuals’ consciousness and material practices.
Actually, Althusser’s theory of ideology was developed largely as an attempt to address certain theoretical problems within Marxism, including Gramsci’s concept of hegemony and Marx’s theory of class. He intended to develop a formalized concept of class struggle, one that could account for the various forms which ideological struggle takes.
He defines ideology as “the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence”. He also suggests that ideology is a system of representations which acts as a representation of the imaginary relationship between people and their real conditions of existence.
Ideology is therefore not a lie or a false consciousness but something which is both true and false at the same time; it is a representation that has no necessary correspondence with reality. It is false because it does not describe what really exists in the world but it is true because it expresses the interests of those who hold power in society.
The two main forms of ideology are religious and political ideologies. Religious ideologies refer to ideas about how society should be organized and how people should live their lives. Political ideologies refers to ideas about how society should be organized and how people should live their lives within this particular organization.
