POL_S 333 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Louis Althusser, Opiate, Liberal Democracy
Document Summary
What is the problem with the post modern narrative of a progress from a. Class struggles is merely part of a series of struggles (feminist, ecological, etc. ) which becomes more and more absolete. Ideological displacement: class antagonism is disavowed other markers of social difference (sexism, racism, etc) bear all the weight of suffering produced by capitalism. Resignation: the acceptance of capitalism as the only game in town. Renunciation of any real attempt to overcome capitalism. Plurality of struggles within liberal democracy accommodates capitalism. Freedom to enjoy has been turned into an obligation to enjoy. Kind of like commodity fetish, you are being told what to enjoy and there is an expectation you have to enjoy something. Liberal idea of freedom of choice masks that choice is forced. Women are so free but they mutilate their bodies with plastic surgery as a social pressure. There are fundamental antagonisms between higher and lower class imbalance in social relations.
