Table of Contents
Definition of False Consciousness
(noun) A Marxist term, describing when your beliefs and values are in conflict with your own interests, thus you support a system that oppresses you.
False Consciousness Pronunciation
Syllabification: false con·scious·ness
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /fAWls kAHn-shuh-snuhs/
- British English – /fAWls kOn-shuh-snis/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /fɔls ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/
- British English – /fɔːls ˈkɒnʃəsnɪs/
Usage Notes
- Plural: false consciousnesses
- People who have false consciousness have internalized the beliefs, ideology, and values in a capitalist society
Related Videos
Additional Information
Related Terms
- capitalism
- class
- communism
- distribution
- division of labor
- economic system
- economics
- mode of production
- relations to production
- stratification
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Cite the Definition of False Consciousness
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “false consciousness.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 17, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/false-consciousness/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
false consciousness. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/false-consciousness/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “false consciousness.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 17, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/false-consciousness/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“false consciousness.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 17 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/false-consciousness/>.