Introduction
In contemporary societies rooted in the logic of liberal capitalism, the individual appears as a free, rational, and autonomous agent of their own destiny. Ideological discourse promotes the notion of personal responsibility, choice, and self-realization as key virtues of the subject, who is expected to shape their place in the social structure. However, a closer philosophical analysis reveals that this very experience of apparent autonomy is the effect of a deeper entanglement of the subject within ideological mechanisms that operate unconsciously, materially, and often beyond their awareness.

This essay explores the phenomenon of subjective affirmation of ideology—when the individual not only responds to ideological interpellation but also actively affirms and reproduces it, often through micro-rational decisions perceived as expressions of their own will. We will draw upon key concepts such as Louis Althusser’s theory of interpellation, Jean-Léon Beauvois’s psychological theory of rationalization of external will, and Michel Foucault’s analysis of disciplinary dispositifs that act through the body and consciousness of the subject. Our discussion will be expanded through an analysis of various forms of rationality, a reflection on the contemporary attention economy, and the question of ideological permutation.

1. Interpellation and the Materiality of Ideology (Althusser)

Louis Althusser understands ideology as a material practice that manifests in everyday rituals, institutions, and embodied behaviors. The central mechanism of ideology is interpellation—the process through which ideology addresses the individual and transforms them into a subject. In this moment of interpellation, the individual recognizes themselves as the one being addressed and accepts their role within the symbolic order. Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) such as the school, the church, the family, and the media continuously reproduce the ideological conditions of production without the subject recognizing this as ideological.

Example: The school system educates not only through the transmission of knowledge but also through internalization of authority, acceptance of hierarchy, and training in adaptation. Grades, schedules, and exams shape the individual’s perception of reality as a space where one must “succeed” according to external standards.

2. Rationalization as an Internal Affirmative Loop (Beauvois)

Jean-Léon Beauvois highlights a mechanism in which the subject, even when following an external command, interprets the action as their own choice. This rationalization preserves the feeling of autonomy. Micro-rationality, as enacted by the subject in daily decisions, often reaffirms and consolidates the existing ideological order.

Example: A worker who accepts an increased workload without protest because “times are tough” or in hope of promotion rationalizes their subordination. Even if it was silently coerced, the action is framed as a free decision, thereby reinforcing the logic of the system that rewards such behavior.

3. Subjectivation and the Microstructure of Power (Foucault)

Michel Foucault demonstrates that modern power operates through internal regulation. Disciplinary apparatuses such as the school, prison, and hospital structure the body, time, desires, and thought of the subject. The subject is no longer merely supervised but becomes a bearer of control. Subjectivation is the process by which individuals internalize norms and recognize them as part of their own identity.

Example: Fitness trackers, diet apps, and productivity metrics are not merely tools for improvement but instruments of self-discipline that create the ideal body, the ideal worker, and the ideal consumer.

4. Micro-Rationalities and Their Ideological Valuation

Rationality is not neutral. In liberal capitalism, economic rationality predominates—favoring profit, productivity, and competitiveness. This form of rationality permeates all spheres of society and marginalizes alternatives such as social, ecological, or ethical rationalities.

Example: The choice of study program is often guided by “employability” rather than personal interest, social contribution, or critical reflection. Similarly, companies often eliminate social projects unless they yield immediate market value.

5. The Permutation of Ideological Meaning: Hegemony and Its Crisis

Antonio Gramsci understood hegemony as cultural dominance established through internal consent. It is never final but constantly exposed to rupture. Crises—ecological, social, or spiritual—reveal contradictions within the existing order and create conditions for transformation.

Example: Climate protests, mental health movements, and initiatives for universal basic income are all symptoms of tensions within the current order and, simultaneously, potential carriers of new ideological centralities.

6. The Subject as a Rupture: Possibilities of Resistance and the Ethics of Transcendence

Neoliberalism turns the individual into an entrepreneur of the self, embedded in the attention economy. Visibility becomes the new currency. Individuals must constantly work on themselves, present themselves, be seen—and for that reason, they become blind to the world around them. What emerges is what we might call “the unconscious of the unconscious”: the contradictions of the world are not merely repressed but rendered invisible.

Example: A social media user who obsessively curates their image becomes increasingly incapable of perceiving systemic causes of suffering, violence, or inequality, as likes and reactions structure their sense of reality.

Resistance ethics, then, is not necessarily loud but quiet: silence, community, care, attentiveness to the other. The subject who dares to see is the subject who cracks ideology.

Conclusion: The Subject Beyond Predetermination

The subject is not only a product of ideology but also a potential rupture within it. In the economy of attention and continuous self-management, resistance is no longer found in heroic confrontation but in an ethics of invisibility, reflection, and communal care. Art, pedagogy, utopia—these are not merely companions of change but its very conditions. The subject who realizes they were never entirely their own is precisely the one capable of forging a new alliance with the world. And there, where they were once trapped in the matrix of necessity, perhaps the conditions of a freedom not yet named begin to emerge.