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Althussers Approach

y Marxs Theory still an essential basis for theinterpretation of the social relation. Scientific andObjective. Descriptive in some way.

y His attempt to readjust some aspects shift from thetopographical/ geographical structure of the social system

to an Ideological one, esp in the superstructure.y The infrastructure remains the economic base

y Introduction of Ideological State Apparatuses- in thesuperstructure, the state then constitutes of Repressive

State Apparatus and the ISAs.y ISA religious, educational, family, legal, political, trade

union, communication, cultural.

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Althusser on Ideology:

y ideology is the system of the ideas and representationswhich dominate the mind of a man or a social group- Marx

y However As attempt is to come up with a theory ofIdeology in general rather than theory of particularideologies

y Here the role of the subject come into play. Althusserstates his assumed features of Ideology:

y Ideology has no history since its history is outside it,where the only existing history is the history of concrete

individuals

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Althussers Ideologyy

Ideology is a Representation of the Imaginary Relationshipof Individuals to their real conditions of Existence. -

y Ideology is material, an ideology always exists in anapparatus and its practice

y Ideology interpellates Individuals as Subjects

y Individuals live in Ideology- Individuals are always-alreadysubjects.

y Illustrates his theory by an example- the Christian ReligiousIdeology- God as an Ideology!

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Subject in The Theory

y there is no ideology except by the subject and for subjects.y The category of the subject is constitutive of all ideology.

Defines the concrete individuals as subjects.

y Ideology seems natural and obvious but not ideological.

y

name a thing, have a meaningy Individuals take the recognition/ misrecognition as

natural, thus becomes irreplaceable subjects.

y The thesis- ideology acts or functions in such a way thatit recruits subjects among the individuals (it recruits them

all), or transforms the individuals into subjects (ittransforms them all) by that very precise operation which Ihave called interpellation or hailing, and which can beimagined along the lines of the most commonplaceeveryday police (or other) hailing: Hey, you there![

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y The Christian Religious Ideologyy Takes the Lacanian psychoanalytic framework as a model for the

analysisy Comes up with the mirror-structure of ideology:

y The interpellation of individuals as subjects;

y Their subjection to the Subject;

y The mutual recognition of subjects and Subject, the subjects

recognition of each other, and finally the subjects recognition ofhimself.

y The absolute guarantee that everything really is so, and that oncondition that the subjects recognize what they are and behaveaccordingly, everything will be alright: Amen So be it.

y Thus the individual is interpellated as a ( free) subject in order thathe shall submit ( freely) to the commandments of the Subject, i.e inorder that he shall freely accept his subjection.

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Conclusiony There is no subjects except by and for their subjection.

Thats why they work all by themselves.

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