Marx's Concept of Ideology

The concept of ideology bears different and varied meanings from its birth to the present time. Marx's and Engels' writings occupy a central position in the history of the concept of ideology. After them, it acquires a neutralized meaning ss develops. There are three different meanings in Marx's writing: ideology as idealist conception of history, as ideological superstructure and as ideas which conceal the interest of a class. To grasp the concept of ideology entails an analysis of its origin and its development, especially of the social and theoretical context in which Marx employed it, and of the change of the concept's meaning.