A Marxism concept describing the masking effect of ideology, which cloaks the true conditions of things, thus inhibiting the mobilization of political activism. Thomas Frankâs bestselling Whatâs the Matter of Kansas (2004) offered a convincing portrait of what false consciousness looks like in contemporary society by documenting the fact that voters in Kansas in the first part of the twenty-first century seemed unaware that voting Republican meant they were effectively voting against their own interests. By prioritizing cultural issues, and neglecting labour and industrial issues, voters demonstrated that they were not conscious of what is politically significant. Obviously, from a Marxist perspective, the economic considerations are always given primacy. But one might just as well argue that the cultural issues are primary. Marxist tradition, dating back to Marxism himself, holds the rather utopia view that false consciousness can be shattered by knowledge, but later critics like ĆœiĆŸek, Slavoj, who aligns false consciousness with fantasy, argue that people resist taking on board the implications of knowledge. This position, of knowing the truth of oneâs situation, but not acting as though it were true, is known as cynical reason.