Le développement idéologique en situation coloniale: essai de théorisation

Abstract

The fundamental element in the Marxist theory of ideologies is that men's ideas and perceptions are determined by the way in which they earn their living and by the social conditions which ensue. But this view by itself does not adequately explain the ideological framework of a social organization and its process of development since other factors intervene. The dialectic governing the formulation of ideologies is not only vertical but horizontal as well, and in two respects. First, one must avoid being trapped by a logical assumption about the connection between the method of production and the creation of a social structure. We must recognize the co-existence of modes of production; that is to say that in a given social structure there can be several methods of production. Thus, while a capitalist mode of production may prevail, it can still accommodate perfectly well for a certain length of time the continuation of some elements of the feudal or slave system of production, even though the logical end of capitalism is to spread and eliminate them. Hence, depending on the relationship between methods of production, one can discover in the overall structure of the prevailing mode of production some traces of the method of production which previously was dominant, especially during a transitional period.