Abstract

This essay analyzes the problematic nexus between ideology and processes of subjectivation starting from the work of Althusser. The reinterpretation of the Marxist tradition, according to which ideology coincides with false consciousness, sheds light on the decisive role played by the symbolic moment in the construction of the subject. Foucault's work stands in continuity with this perspective, although it does separate the concept of truth from whatsoever scientific matrix, focusing on the ethical and autopoietic dimension. As a result, singular subjectivities are irreducible to any attempt of universalization, with all the consequences this entails for policy-making.