ABSTRACT
The development of a Marxist theory of the superstructure has been hampered by the fact that Marx and Engels adhered to at least three theories of ideology, or, to be more precise, three theories of belief can be adduced from Marx and Engels' publications. While the sociological analysis of 'nationalism' is not a viable enterprise and while it is not a problem for Marxist theory to produce a definition of 'nation' and 'nationalism', Zubaida argues that 'nationalism' is to be treated as a crucial problem for political practice. An alternative solution would be to argue that 'nationalism' is a commonsense, quasi-scientific term which operates within an ideological discourse and which has to be transformed in order to operate within a scientific realm of analysis. In short, Orientalists treat the problem of ideology as a problem of intellectual history in order to demonstrate that the 'failure' of Arab nationalism can be traced back to a 'failure' of Arab ideologues.
