The Politics of Truth: From Marx to Foucault - Paperback

by Michele Barrett (Author)

This book is about the dramatic eclipse of one of Marxism's major theoretical and political weapons - the theory of ideology. The fortunes of this concept, recently subjected to a barrage of criticism but particularly from post-structuralists, are seen as symptomatic of the difficulties now besetting the Marxist tradition.

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The concept of ideology - traditionally one of Marxism's most persuasive ideas - has recently been subjected to devastating criticism. Michele Barrett shows that Marx's own writings offer a confusing array of possible approaches to 'ideology', which the classical Marxist tradition consolidated as 'mystification that serves class interests'.

Barrett locates Gramsci and Althusser as key figures in the breakdown of the classical Marxist conception - Gramsci's work presaging the separation of class, politics and ideology found in Laclau and Mouffe, and Althusser's failing to deliver an adequate approach to subjectivity. Foucault - replacing Marxism's 'economics of untruth' with his own 'politics of truth' - is examined as an exemplar of post-structuralist critiques of ideology.

Author Biography

Michele Barrett is a leading writer in the field of sociology and has written many successful works including "Women's Oppression Today, The Politics of Diversity " and " Ideology: A Cultural Production." She is Professor of Modern Literary and Cultural Theory at Queen Mary & Westfield College, London.