Summary of Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses Michael Stone September 21, 2005 In his article Ideology and

d Ideological State Apparatuses, ouis Althusser describes his in!estigations o" a "undamental problem in Mar#ist social and political thought$ %hat is the reproduction o" the conditions o" production& '12()* %hile ans+ering this ,uestion, Althusser +restles +ith thorny ,uestions about the meaning o" the term sub-ect* Althusser.s "irst step is to subdi!ide the problem into t+o smaller ,uestions concerning the reproduction o" labor po+er$ he must consider both the conditions o" its material reproduction 'i*e* +here to ne+ laborers come "rom&) and o" its socio/technical reproduction 'i*e* +here do ne+ skilled laborers, adapted to the socio-technical division of labor come "rom&)* In his +ords, these t+in ,uestions can both be ans+ered in terms o" the ideology o" the ruling class, or more simply, the ruling ideology* 0he second strand o" argument +o!en by Althusser concerns the Mar#ist de"inition o" the State and complications thereo"* 1e summari2es the classical construction o" by stating$
The State is a machine of repression, which enables the ruling classes (in the nineteenth century the bourgeois class and the class of big landowners to ensure their domination over the working class, thus enabling the former to sub!ect the latter to the process of surplus-value e"tortion (i#e# to capitalist e"ploitation #$ (%&'

1o+e!er, he determines soon a"ter that the Mar#ist classics +ere "orced to distinguish bet+een State po+er and State apparatus '131/132) because o" obser!ations 'o" the 141( 5e!olution, "or e#ample) that indicated that State po+er could change hands bet+een classes +hile the State apparatus, the mechanisms by +hich that repressi!e po+er +as e#ercised, remained the same '131)* Althusser.s contribution to this discussion is the "ormal in!ention6recognition o" Ideological State Apparatuses 'ISAs) such as the 7hurch, the 8amily, and the School +hich e#ist in the pri!ate domain in addition to the public domain 'as opposed to the 5epressi!e State Apparatus 9note the singular: +hich Althusser claims is +holly public in nature 9133:)* 0o substantiate his concern +ith theori2ing these institutions, he points to enin.s anguished concern to re!olutioni2e the educational Ideological State Apparatus; '13<) %hy else does Althusser care about ISAs& 1e remar=s that$
;the Ideological State Apparatuses may be not only the stake, but also the site o" class struggle; 0he class 'or class alliance) in po+er cannot lay do+n the la+ in the ISAs as easily as it can in the 'repressi!e State apparatus), not only because the "ormer ruling classes are able to retain strong positions there "or a long time, but also because the resistance o" the e#ploited classes is able to "ind means and occasions to e#press itsel" there, either by the utili2ation o" their contradictions or by con,uering combat positions in the struggle* '13()

Apparently, much is at sta=e* 1o+e!er, +e are only le"t +ith a host o" ne+ ,uestions* %hat is the relationship i" the ISAs to the sole 5SA& According to Althusser, the 5SA is the shield behind +hich the ISAs +or=> the 5SA is ?responsible. "or securing by repression; the political conditions "or the action o" the Ideological State Apparatuses '150)*

1o+ do ne+ ISAs "orm and old ones lose prominence& Althusser glosses o!er this discussion on pages 151/153* 1o+ and +hy does @ducation in particular come to replace the 7hurch in @urope& In part because o" its un"ettered access to children "or eight hours each day, "i!e to si# days each +ee= '15</15()* 0hat +as the +arm/up* 0he real ,uestions concern the theoretical description o" ideology o" ideology in general as opposed to ideologies in particular '154)* 8or e#ample, +here does the term ideology originate& '15A)* 8or Mar#, ideology +as illusion, utterly lac=ing in meaning an unsystematic distortion o" reality* Bot so "or Althusser* 8or him, the distortion is systematic and is emblematic o" 8reud* 1ence +e enter the discussion o" ideology.s omni/ historicity '154/1<1)* 1a!ing s=ipped "rom one ,uestion to the ne#t li=e a spun stone s=ating o!er the sur"ace o" a !ast la=e, Althusser "inally +ends his +ay to his o+n de"inition o" ideology$ the representation o" the imaginary relationship i" indi!iduals to their real conditions o" e#istence '1<2)* Is it simply the Ceauti"ul ies o" the eighteenth century Driests and Eespots '1<F)& Is it the simple result o" alienated labor, as Mar# and 8euerbach thought& Beither, according to Althusser* Instead, +e must stop loo=ing "or a ?cause. and instead search "or understanding o" the ?imaginariness. o" the relation '1<5)* Suppose "or a moment that, as good Mar#ists, +e are materialists* 1o+ might +e analy2e this imaginary ,uality o" ideology& I" +e +ere Althusser, +e might start by analy2ing +hat happens to the indi!iduals +ho li!e their li!es embedded in ideology +e could as= ?1o+ does ideology inscribe itsel" on these indi!iduals&. 'paraphrasing 1<<)* %e soon "ind that +e become embroiled in a discussion o" the ?sub-ects., ?consciousness., ?actions., ?practices., and ?rituals. '1<A/1<4)* %hat are these sub-ects '1(0)& 0he remainder o" the essay encompasses three ,uestions on +hich I cannot ade,uately summari2e Althusser.s position$ 1* 1o+ do +e recogni(e oursel!es or others as sub-ects& Eoes this recognition6misrecognition "unction 'called interpellation by Althusser) su""ice to de"ine the "unction o" ideology '1(0/1(2)& 2* %hat is the di""erence bet+een indi!iduals and sub-ects& 7an groups be sub-ects& 7an indi!iduals "ail to be sub-ects '1(2/1(<)& F* 1o+ does ideology ?hide itsel". '1(5)& 3* %hat is the relation o" the sub-ects to the Sub-ect '1A1/1A2)& Criticisms: 1* Mar# starts "rom the ground up +ith capitalism* %e.re trying to argue, in some sense, that "reedom is the ideology that brings capitalism and democracy together under the same roo"* 1o+ does ideology +or= in non/capitalist societies& 2* Althusser is dressing up as a dyed/in/the/+ool Mar#ist* %here.s the re!olution& F* Is Althusser.s understanding o" language 'through 8reud, acan, 1abermas) ade,uate to his understanding o" language.s role in ideology&