false consciousness

American  

noun

1. a Marxist theory that people are unable to see things, especially exploitation, oppression, and social relations, as they really are; the hypothesized inability of the human mind to develop a sophisticated awareness of how it is developed and shaped by circumstances.

2. any belief or view that prevents a person from being able to understand the true nature of a situation.

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Etymology

Origin of false consciousness

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Here's a sample: In the mid-1990s, the longtime host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” program, Robert Siegel — operating within a lofty “public radio” bubble — wrote a letter to the industry newspaper Current declaring that Chomsky “evidently enjoys a small, avid, and largely academic audience who seem to be persuaded that the tangible world of politics is all the result of delusion, false consciousness and media manipulation.”

From Salon

It seems like it marries kind of a false consciousness with complete exploitation.

From Scientific American

This is not the triumph for false consciousness that it might appear to disappointed activists.

From New York Times

Never a political band, it nonetheless articulated a powerful protest — against sentimentality, stupidity, false consciousness and positive thinking — that would sow the seeds of punk rock and later rebellions.

From New York Times

But One Night in Miami still can’t keep itself from caricaturing Cooke’s pre-“Change” pop career as being defined by accommodationist false consciousness and fudging its history in order to do so.

From Slate